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
Basque National Liberation Movement prisoners Basque Country has seen many actions and events in solidarity of the Basque prisoners with political motivation. Solidarity has materialized in gatherings, demonstrations, and other events. Following the permanent truce by ETA in 2011, the echo of events against the Spanish dispersal policy and in support of the prisoners' rights have gained momentum and a more central position in the Basque political agenda. Sare is a major movement advocating for the rights of Basque prisoners. It calls a mass demonstration each early January in Bilbao with a turnout of tens of thousands. On 9 January 2016, tens of thousands also