In one month, the world will remember the 40th anniversary of the nationwide strikes that gave rise to the Solidarity movement. Millions of Poles peacefully opposed the communist system. Before the August agreements were reached, Poland was engulfed by a wave of strikes, which began in Lublin where 54,000 workers dared to oppose totalitarian rule and demand workers’ rights.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took part in the strike commemoration ceremony in Lublin in 1980. He said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to once again thank participants of those days, those events, of the hot July of 1980. It was hot then, right? I remember that July, I remember the first time that breath of freedom was felt all over Poland. The earth was trembling and it was clearly visible that this stone thrown by the workers at that time caused a certain avalanche, which once initiated, could not be stopped, even despite the later introduction of Martial Law. Once again, on behalf of the Republic of Poland, I would like to thank all the participants of these events in Lublin, Świdnik, the Lublin region of those days. I want to thank those 170 companies and over 50 thousand workers, workers who showed great courage and determination on their way to freedom. This freedom would not have existed without that Lublin July. Once again, I thank you for this. Just as before the premiere in the theatre the general rehearsal marks a fundamental step, a milestone on the way to that premiere, so without the Lublin July there would have been no Polish August later, no Solidarity. All of Poland thanks you for this, God bless you.”