| dc.description.abstract | The paper presents the situation of trade unions in communist Poland; from the end of hostilities until the
transition period they remained in conflict with the state. The reason for such a long conflict was the place of
the trade union movement in the political organization of the Polish society. The trade union movement had survived
the period of occupation underground; and with the cessation of hostilities awaited the declaration of people’s
authorities that it would be integrated into the democratic changes and that, acting in the
economic field, it would be an important part of the new political system. Meanwhile, the people’s government had a
different concept of the trade union movement, namely, that it was to play a crucial part not in the economic but
in the political system; it was to be an organization for the purpose of productional mobilization of workers
rather than a workers’ association defending the workers’ interests. For this reason, the people’s government, on
the basis of the Soviet experience, subjected the trade union movement to the Stalinist indoctrination, which it
had to struggle with until the end of the Polish People’s Republic and – at times of recurring economic crises -
demand a proper place in the society’s economic organization. Only the dissolution of the Central Council of Trade
Unions and then of the Communist Party created the conditions in the country for the existence of trade unions
independent of political parties. | en |
