vital role in shaping Solidarity invital role his country. Solidarity in shaping contributions and to for a playing human rights his Prize Peace for Nobel the received Walesa Lech 1983, In world. the throughout freedoms many to similar pursue aspirations of and rights inspired has and hope of asymbol remains healthiest in central and eastern Europe. Walesa office,left the economy Polish was amongthe Poland to economy. a free-market Walesa After oversawhis of administration the transformation Although his presidency lasted only one term, president of Poland. as elected was Walesa Lech which in government Agreement which resulted in a Solidarity-led Table Round 1989 to the led dedication continued will not“Solidarity or destroyed.” be divided His underground weekly featured paper his motto, and The continued leading his activism. electrician an as docks to the returned he release were arrested and detained. Upon his activists Walesaoutlawed Solidarity, and his fellow the governmentAfter law and imposed martial Solidarity. of creation the in culminated that agreement the Polish government workers, and striking an ofnegotiations Agreement between the Gdansk in role instrumental an played Walesa 1980, In association. to free right the and conditions growing movement calling for working better Walesaarrests. then emerged as a leader of the multiple after position his from fired was 1976, he In surveillance. under him placed soon which garnered the of attention the Polish government 1970. activism in His astrike organizing after and quicklyunion rose activism to prominence trade- in involved became he workers, fellow his of treatment poor Troubled the by shipyards. Gdansk at electrician an as hired was Walesa military, in the Polish military. When he resigned from the then and amechanic as life early his spent Walesa Union. Soviet the of dissolution the in step first crucial the as viewed leading Poland out of are Communism. His actions symbol of democracy and is widely recognized for trade independent union.Hebecame first a Bloc’s Soviet the Solidarity, co-founded Walesa president. elected was he which in elections push his country to Parliamentary semi-free and charisma helped shipyards, where his activism Poland’s in Gdansk career his began Walesa Lech “OUR UNION—THE ‘SOLIDARITY’—HAS GROWN INTO A POWERFUL INTO APOWERFUL GROWN ‘SOLIDARITY’—HAS UNION—THE “OUR STRUGGLE FOR OUR EXISTENCE.” OUR FOR STRUGGLE REFORMS AND IMPROVEMENTS. WE FOUGHT ADIFFICULT FOUGHT WE IMPROVEMENTS. AND REFORMS APATHY, AND FEAR FOR OF BONDAGE THE CALLED FROM FREED PEOPLE THE LIBERATION. MORAL AND SOCIAL FOR MOVEMENT LECH WALESA LECH

Lech Walesa © Architects of Peace Foundation EXCERPTS FROM LECH WALESA: 1983 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LECTURE participated in the strike actions, in fact represented the nation. When I recall my own path of life I cannot but speak of the Addressing you, as the winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, is violence, hatred and lies. A lesson drawn from such experiences, a Polish worker from the Gdansk Shipyard, one of the founders however, was that we can effectively oppose violence only if we of the independent trade union movement in Poland. It would be ourselves do not resort to it. the simplest thing for me to say that I am not worthy of that great In the brief history of those eventful years, the Gdansk distinction. Yet, when I recall the hour when the news of the prize Agreement stands out as a great charter of the rights of the working has spread throughout my country, the hour of rising emotions and people which nothing can ever destroy. Lying at the root of the universal joy of the people who felt that they have a moral and social agreements of 1980 are the courage, sense of responsibility, spiritual share in the award, I am obligated to say that I regard it as a and the solidarity of the working people. Both sides have then sign of recognition that the movement to which I gave all my strength recognized that an accord must be reached if bloodshed is to be has served well the community of men. prevented. The agreement then signed has been and shall remain And if I permit myself at this juncture and on this occasion to the model and the only method to follow, the only one that gives a mention my own life, it is because I believe that the prize has been chance of finding a middle course between the use of force and a granted to me as to one of many. hopeless struggle. Our firm conviction that ours is a just cause and My youth passed at the time of the country’s reconstruction that we must find a peaceful way to attain our goals gave us the from the ruins and ashes of the war in which my nation never strength and the awareness of the limits beyond which we must bowed to the enemy paying the highest price in the struggle. I not go. What until then seemed impossible to achieve has become belong to the generation of workers who, born in the villages and a fact of life. We have won the right to association in trade unions hamlets of rural Poland, had the opportunity to acquire education independent from the authorities, founded and shaped by the and find employment in industry, becoming in the course conscious working people themselves. of their rights and importance in society. Those were the years of Our union—the “Solidarity”—has grown into a powerful awakening aspirations of workers and peasants, but also years movement for social and moral liberation. The people, freed of many wrongs, degradations and lost illusions. I was barely from the bondage of fear and apathy, called for reforms and 13 years old when, in June 1956, the desperate struggle of the improvements. We fought a difficult struggle for our existence. That workers of Poznan for bread and freedom was suppressed in blood. was and still is a great opportunity for the whole country. I think Thirteen also was the boy—Romek Strzalkowski—who was killed that it marked also the road to be taken by the authorities, if they in the struggle. It was the “Solidarity” union which 25 years later thought of a state governed in cooperation and participation of all demanded that tribute be paid to his memory. In December 1970 citizens. “Solidarity,” as a trade union movement, did not reach for when workers’ protest demonstrations engulfed the towns of the power, nor did it turn against the established constitutional order. Baltic coast, I was a worker in the Gdansk Shipyard and one of the During the 15 months of “Solidarity’s” legal existence nobody organizers of the strikes. The memory of my fellow workers who was killed or wounded as a result of its activities. Our movement then lost their lives, the bitter memory of violence and despair, has expanded by leaps and bounds. But we were compelled to conduct become for me a lesson never to be forgotten. an uninterrupted struggle for our rights and freedom of activity A few years later, in June 1976, the strike of the workers at Ursus while at the same time imposing upon ourselves the unavoidable and Radom was a new experience which not only strengthened self-limitations. The program of our movement stems from the my belief in the justness of the working people’s demands and fundamental moral laws and order. The sole and basic source of our aspirations, but has also indicated the urgent need for their strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, solidarity. This conviction brought me, in the summer of 1978, to the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live the Free Trade Unions—formed by a group of courageous and in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience. dedicated people who came out in the defense of the workers’ Let the veil of silence fall presently over what happened rights and dignity. In July and August of 1980 a wave of strikes afterwards. Silence, too, can speak out. swept throughout Poland. The issue at stake was then something One thing, however, must be said here and now on this solemn much bigger than only material conditions of existence. My road occasion: The Polish people have not been subjugated nor have of life has, at the time of the struggle, brought me back to the they chosen the road of violence and fratricidal bloodshed. shipyard in Gdansk. The whole country has joined forces with We shall not yield to violence. We shall not be deprived of union the workers of Gdansk and Szczecin. The agreements of Gdansk, freedoms. We shall never agree with sending people to prison for Szczecin and Jastrzebie were eventually signed and the “Solidarity” their convictions. The gates of prisons must be thrown open and union has thus come into being. persons sentenced for defending union and civic rights must be The great Polish strikes, of which I have just spoken, were set free. The announced trials of eleven leading members of our events of a special nature. Their character was determined on movement must never be held. All those already sentenced or still the one hand by the menacing circumstances in which they were awaiting trials for their union activities or their convictions—should held and, on the other, by their objectives. The Polish workers who return to their homes and be allowed to live and work in their repercussions for Europe. Thus, Poland ought to be helped and country. deserves help. The defense of our rights and our dignity, as well as efforts I am looking at the present-day world with the eyes of never to let ourselves to be overcome by the feeling of hatred—this a worker—a worker who belongs to a nation so tragically is the road we have chosen. experienced by the war. I most sincerely wish that the world in Despite everything that has been going on in my country during which we live be free from the threat of a nuclear holocaust and the past two years, I am still convinced that we have no alternative from the ruinous arms race. It is my cherished desire that peace be but to come to an agreement, and that the difficult problems which not separated from freedom which is the right of every nation. This I Poland is now facing can be resolved only through a real dialogue desire and for this I pray. between state authorities and the people. May I repeat that the fundamental necessity in Poland is now We are ready for the dialogue. We are also prepared, at any understanding and dialogue. I think that the same applies to the time, to put our reasons and demands to the judgement of the whole world: we should go on talking, we must not close any doors people. We have no doubts as to what verdict would be returned. or do anything that would block the road to an understanding. And I think that all nations of the world have the right to life in we must remember that only peace built on the foundations of dignity. I believe that, sooner or later, the rights of individuals, of justice and moral order can be a lasting one. families, and of entire communities will be respected in every In many parts of the world the people are searching for a corner of the world. Respect for civic and human rights in Poland solution which would link the two basic values: peace and justice. and for our national identity is in the best interest of all Europe. The two are like bread and salt for mankind. Every nation and every For, in the interest of Europe is a peaceful Poland, and the Polish community have the inalienable right to these values. No conflicts aspirations to freedom will never be stifled. The dialogue in Poland can be resolved without doing everything possible to follow that is the only way to achieving internal peace and that is why it is also road. Our times require that these aspirations which exist the world an indispensable element of peace in Europe. over must be recognized. I realize that the strivings of the Polish people gave rise, and Our efforts and harsh experiences have revealed to the world the still do so, to the feelings of understanding and solidarity all over value of human solidarity. Accepting this honorable distinction I am the world. Allow me from this place to express my most profound thinking of those with whom I am linked by the spirit of solidarity: thanks to all those who help Poland and the Poles. May I also voice my desire that our wish for the dialogue and for respect of human First of all, of those who in the struggle for the workers’ and civic rights in Poland should be strengthened by a positive thought. My rights in my country paid the highest price—the price of life; country is in the grips of a major economic crisis. This is causing dramatic consequences for the very existence of Polish families. of my friends who paid for the defense of “Solidarity” with the loss of A permanent economic crisis in Poland may also have serious freedom, who were sentenced to prison terms or are awaiting trial; of my countrymen who saw in the “Solidarity” movement the fulfillment of their aspirations as workers and citizens, who are subjected to humiliations and ready for sacrifices, who have learnt to link courage with wisdom and who persist in loyalty to the cause we have embarked upon;

of all those who are struggling throughout the world for the workers’ and union rights, for the dignity of a working man, for human rights.

Inscribed on the monument erected at the entrance to the Gdansk Shipyard in memory of those who died in December 1970 are the words of the psalm:

“The Lord will give power to His people; The Lord will give His people the blessing of peace.”

Let these words be our message of brotherhood and hope. SOLIDARITY: TEN MILLION NEGOTIATE AS ONE LESSON GRADE LEVEL: 9–12 HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES: LABOR LECH WALESA REFORM; NON-VIOLENT ACTIVISM; POLITICAL FREEDOM

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF VOCABULARY: • The soldier and the shipyard worker T-chart HUMAN RIGHTS: • Solidarnosc—“Solidarity” handout Article 23: Right to Desirable Work and to • Soviet Bloc/Soviet Iron Curtin • Timeline handout Join Trade Unions. • Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) • Large poster paper and bold markers Article 24: Right to Rest and Leisure. • Gdansk Agreement 1980 • Photos of union and labor leaders Article 25: Right to Adequate Living • Round Table Agreement 1989 Standards. • Free market economy • Martial law GUIDING QUESTION: • Wojciech Jaruzelski How are conflicts resolved (if at all)? • • Pope John Paul II • How do perceptions and perspectives influence conflict/compromise? CONCEPTS: What makes compromise effective? • • Labor reform • What determines whether compromise is • Human rights beneficial? • When is conflict necessary? TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED: • When is conflict justified? • Computer lab with Internet capacity • Headphones for individual listening TIME REQUIREMENT: • Video recorder for producing defender 105 Minutes activity OBJECTIVES: MATERIALS: After this lesson, students will be able to: • Fair Labor Standards Act • Understand fair labor practices. http://www.dol.gov/whd/flsa/ • Explain the reason people form and join labor unions. • Minimum wage handout • Define common responsibility. http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/ • Identify both sides of the conflict in Poland compliance/whdfs14.pdf in the 1970s and 1980s. • Union 101 • Connect the work of Lech Walesa and the http://www.jwj.org/unions-101 Solidarity movement to labor issues. • The Union Difference http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-About- COMMON CORE LEARNING Unions/What-Unions-Do/The-Union- STANDARDS: Difference • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 • Collective bargaining • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4 http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-About- • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Unions/Collective- Bargaining • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.7 • Lech Walesa background PowerPoint • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.9 presentation • Lech Walesa biography www.RFKHumanRights.org / click on Speak Truth to Power / click on “Defenders” tab • Lech Walesa Nobel Prize speech https:// www.nobelprize.org/ nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1983/ walesa-acceptance.html • The Autumn of Change CNN video and article http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/ europe/05/25/aoc.newpoland/ index.html

Speak Truth To Power | 4 STUDENT ACTIVITIES

ANTICIPATORY SET: TEACHER TIP: • Hook: Provide students national and international newspaper • Describe and discuss unions with your students. Include key points headlines related to labor issues. Have students predict the tone of should as the history of unions, who is in a union, current events the labor situation in America and other countries. Ask students to in your city,union strategies, role of undocumented workers in select one headline and write five sentences about what they unions, migrant workers and domestic workers. Acknowledge the expect to find in the article. perspective of the employer who may not want union workers. • Explain the role of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Introduce the Discuss the pros and cons of having unions in a variety of Overview for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) workplaces. Why would people be against unions? https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wh1282.pdf with the whole group. Make sure students understand that there are federal ACTIVITY 3: rules for employment in the United States Model student computer • Share background information on Poland and Lech Walesa via research activity by explaining the Minimum Wage Laws using the DOL PowerPoint. Allow students to take notes. website. http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.pdf • Share Lech Walesa’s biography and Noble Prize speech with reading comprehension questions for homework TEACHER TIP: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/ • Include a discussion on the difference between minimum wage and laureates/1983/walesa-lecture.html a living wage. http://livingwage.mit.edu/ • Computer Lab—Allow students to independently watch The Autumn • Assign students one of the employment sub-topics for research. of Change video. Allow students to jot dot the Point of View of The Allow students to complete research for homework if more time is Soldier—WojciechJaruzelski and the Shipyard Worker—Lech needed. Walesa. • Sub-topics: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/autumn.of.change/ {{Breaks & meal periods index.html

{{Flexible schedules • Debrief video in small group discussions. Allow students to complete

{{Family & medical leave a timeline in small groups that detail the key events of the labor

{{Full-time employment issues in Poland.

{{Holidays {{Job sharing ACTIVITY 4: {{Night work & shift work • Allow students to go back to the groups they had in Activity 1 based {{Overtime on the subtopics for hourly wage earners from the DOL website. {{Part-time employment In their groups, students will read the Twenty-one demands and {{Recordkeeping and reporting compare them to worker rights in the United States. Allow groups {{Sick leave to walk around the room and take notes from the other groups’ {{Travel time posters. Students may use any other information related to workers {{Vacation leave issues that they found in researching labor issues in Poland and the {{Weekend work formation of Solidarity. • Write a compare/contrast essay on labor issues. Prompt: Today ACTIVITY 1: most nations around the world have labor laws that set minimum • Allow students who were assigned the same subtopic to summarize requirements for workers’ rights. Identify common standards for their findings as a group and create a large poster that includes workers’ rights that members of the Solidarity movement worked to key facts from the websites to hang in the classroom. One achieve that are similar to the worker rights provided by the United representative from each group will report the group’s summary States Department of Labor. to whole class. Have students take notes and ask questions at the end of each presentation. CULMINATING ACTIVITY: • Have students write a paragraph explaining employment issues Invite members from local unions to have a roundtable discussion regulated by the DOL. How much enforcement power does FLSA have? on the role of their particular union. Have each union official answer questions prepared by students. Use the American Federation ACTIVITY 2: of Labor website for a list of various unions. Also consult local • Teacher lead—Guide students through Unions 101 and answer federations’ websites for possible guest speakers. questions as they arise. http://www.jwj.org/unions-101 • Provide students with “Union Advantage by the Numbers” and allow students to draw conclusions. https://aflcio.org/what-unions-do

5 | Speak Truth To Power BECOME A DEFENDER

• Preparation: Discuss the problem and need you are addressing EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES: during your service. Why is this work important? What do you hope • Students research a boycott issue in which workers are being to learn from this experience about yourself and the issue? treated unfairly. They could participate in the boycott and raise • Teen Employment Awareness: Students will create an awareness about the boycott in their school and community. edutainment program that will explain teen workers’ rights. The • Students learn about Cesar Chavez, participate in a service activity program will include original songs, skits, and video clips. Topics related to the issues and values of Chavez (food, labor, will include jobs that you can and cannot perform based on age, immigration, environment). work permit requirements, weekday work hours, pay and overtime, • Students research current labor campaigns conducted by harassment, occupational safety and health hazards. the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice—http://www.iwj.org— including wage theft and advocacy for public sector jobs. The • Writing: Write an article for the school newspaper explaining teen worker rights and other issues. Write a regular advice column. Interfaith Center for Worker Justice in Chicago and other similar organizations could supply a classroom speaker to discuss their • Activism: Have students speak at the local school council meeting and student council meetings and share information about teen- work and current campaigns. Students could participate in either a friendly employers and rights. local or national campaign to defend the rights of workers. Students could interview migrant workers, learn about their • Go to centers and schools that have after-school teen employment • opportunities and assist teens who are applying for jobs. experiences, and then participate in a national worker’s rights campaign at • Make teen employment rights posters and hang around the school. http://www.allianceforfairfood.org/take-action/

REFLECTION—STUDENT CHOICE: 1 Choose three words that best describe your service learning experience and develop an essay around these words. 2 Think back to your attitude about the issue of employee rights prior to your experience. Did your experience change or confirm your attitude? Describe your experience as you answer this question. 3 Did the experience impact the way that you are thinking about potential careers? If so, how? Describe what you did during your experience, the skills you gained, and/or the discussions you had that affected your thinking about careers.

Speak Truth To Power | 6 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Nobel Prize: Poland, Walesa and Solidarity: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1983/walesa- • CNN—The Soldier and the Shipyard Worker: three-part video and bio.html article The Nobel Prize is an award for achievement in physics, chemistry, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/21/ physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. It is administered aoc.poland.jaruzelski.walesa/index.html internationally by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. • Poland: Solidarity — The Trade Union That Changed the World: http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1060898.html • PBS Commanding Heights: Episode 2 video clip 7:32 Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/553374/Solidarity minitext/tr_show02.html Encyclopedia Britannica is one of the world’s most trusted sources of Solidarity leaders meet with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. information and provides in-depth, quality facts on a wide range of • Poland: From Soviet satellite to “Tiger of Europe” topics. http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/30/ poland.profile/ Radio Free Europe: http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1060898.html Radio Free Europe reports the news in 21 countries where a free press is either not fully established or banned by the government. They broadcast to 21 countries in 28 languages, including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Russia and have more than 400 full-time journalists, 750 freelancers, and 20 local bureaus. DEFENDER RESOURCES

Labor Resources: • U.S. Department of Labor—Fair Labor Standards Act Teen Worker Advocacy: https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/wh1282.pdf • http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/teenworkers/index.html • U.S. Department of Labor—Hourly Wage Earner Rights • http://actforyouth.net/resources/pm/pm_worker_0511.cfm http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/workhours/index.htm • https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/youthlabor/childlaborstatistics • U.S. Department of Labor—Minimum Wage fact sheet PDF—http:// www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs14.pdf

Union Resources: • AFL-CIO—Union Advantage by the Numbers http://www.cwa6201.org/advantage.pdf • AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-About-Unions/ Collective-Bargaining

7 | Speak Truth To Power