History of Solidarity History of Solidarity The history of Solidarity (, pronounced ), a Polish non-governmental trade union, began on August 14, 1980, at the Lenin Shipyards (now Gdańsk Shipyards) at its founding by Lech Wałęsa and others. In the early 1980s, it became the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad, non-violent, anti-communist social movement that, at its height, claimed some 9.4 million members. It is considered to have contributed greatly to the fall of communism. Poland's communist government attempted to destroy the union by instituting martial law in 1981, followed by several years of
Solidarity – The Union for British Workers all forms of institutional union corruption"; "promote freedom within and without the Trades Union movement, protecting and promoting freedom of belief, thought and speech, irrespective of political and religious affiliation or creed". The documents make no mention of race, but Solidarity's General Secretary has repeatedly stated that membership is open to people of all ethnic, religious and political backgrounds. A statement on the Solidarity website backs this view: "Our aim in Solidarity is to unite all workers, from all racial, religious and political backgrounds". The Union has distributed material aimed at recruiting from ethnic minority communities. Solidarity recruits from all