Date:          Mon, 17 Mar 1997 23:28:06 +0000
Subject:       (Fwd) [61] POLISH WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AT CLOSED GDANSK SH


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Date:          Fri, 14 Mar 1997 16:55:47 -0500
From:          NewsHound-AT-sjmercury.com (NewsHound)

Subject:       [61] POLISH WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AT CLOSED GDANSK SHIPYARD

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Polish workers continue protest at closed Gdansk shipyard
By CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI

Associated Press Writer

GDANSK, Poland (AP) -- Lech Walesa urged a general strike Friday aimed at 
toppling the Polish government, in a show of support for workers protesting the 
closure of the bankrupt shipyard where the Solidarity movement was born.

Walesa, who was accused of coddling the Gdansk shipyard with government 
subsidies during his five years as Poland's president, blamed the current 
government of former communists for ``ruining the shipyard from the very 
beginning.''

``I'd opt for a firm struggle, including a general strike that could lead to the
 toppling of the ex-communists,'' Walesa said in a telephone interview with The 
Associated Press.

About 1,200 workers marched into downtown Gdansk on Friday for a third straight 
day of protests since last week's announcement that all 3,600 shipyard employees
 would be laid off because no banks could be found to guarantee loans to finance
 shipbuilding projects.

The workers chanted ``Down with communists!'' at a rally at the shipyard before 
marching downtown, where they burned tires in front of the municipal building.

The shipyard, with a $150 million debt, was declared bankrupt in August. The 
government, which owns 60 percent of the yard, and bankruptcy receivers sought 
loans and contracts to try to keep part of it going, but the banks backed out 
when the government refused to fully guarantee loans for the projects.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who defeated Walesa in 1995, ``is deeply 
worried'' about the loss of so many jobs, his spokesman, Antoni Styrczula, said 
on Polish radio Friday.

Solidarity leaders, meeting in Warsaw late Thursday, accused the government of 
closing the shipyard as an act of revenge.

``For political reasons, the plant was doomed for economic failure just at the 
moment when a realistic restructuring plan, accepted by the workers, was 
ready,'' they said in a statement after the session.

Piotr Andrzejewski, a Solidarity legislator, said the movement would ``resort to
 all legal forms of protest,'' including a general strike.

With Walesa's support, the shipyard's Solidarity-led management resisted 
restructuring or cost-cutting as Poland dismantled the communist 
centrally-planned economy.

By contrast, Poland's two other big shipyards at Szczecin and Gdynia, slimmed 
down to become competitive in the free market and are now among Europe's leading
 yards.

AP-WS-03-14-97 1447EST



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