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The Politics of Poiish Industr'

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The Politics of Poiish Industr' Pofand 1970-1976 The Politics of PoIish Industr'/ A Study of llorker-Party Rel-ations in a Social_ist State å t nesl-s Presented to The Department of Political- Studies FacuJ-ty of Graduate Studies and Research '-lniversity of I'ianitoba :n Pa:'tial- Ful-fil-lment of the F.equir.enent for. the Degree of Ìiaster of Arts by Lar.¡rence .loseoh Ronans 762198 0ctoÌ-.er , I977 PoLAND 7970-L976 THE POLITICS OF POLISH INDUSTRY STUDY OF I^]ORKER-PARTY RELATIONS IN A SOCIALIST STATE BY LAI.¡RENCE JOSEPH ROMANS A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of the university of Manitoba in partiar fulfillrnent of the requirenrents of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS @ 1982 Permission has been granted to the LIBRARy oF THE UNIVER- SITY OF MANITOBA ro le¡rd or sell copies of this thesis, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA ro microfilm rhis thesis a'd to lend or sell copies of the film, and UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish a¡r abstract of this thesis. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or other- wise reproduced without the autltor's written permission. ABSTRACT The workensr riots of December, J-970 had a significant impact on the history and development of the Potish People's Republic. These protests reaffirmed the importance of the workers in Pa:rty politics, a strength first demonstrated in 1956, and showed the ability of the wonkers to force the Party to change íts policíes and leadership. The December protests marked the end of the Gomulka ena and undenlined the fail-ure of Gomulka to satisfy the average PoÌe rs expectations with his policy of a "Po1ish road to socialism". The ascension of Edwand Gierek to the PZPR First Secnetary also was to signify the beginning of a new era. After the bleak Gomulka years, the new::egime offened a new hope for the Pol-ish people. Gierek promised that his nule would be characterized by a new concern fon the average PoLets material- conditions and by a new spirit of openness and communication within society. These pr"omises seemed to signaÌ an impnovement in ::elations in PoLand and an advance along the road to communism. Of special significance for Gierek was the imp::ovement of wor.ker relations. l Worker nelatÍonships are impontant because, according to Manxist- Leninist theory, the worker is the basis for socialíst society and thnough his party, the Communíst Party, he leads society. Thus, if 1By worker relations is meant the association that the workens have with the PZPR (the potish Communist Pa:rty), the state, within industry, and. as consumens. the PZPR is unable to satisfy the workers, it is not fulfiJ_ling a basic function of nepnesenting the r¡orkers. An equal-J-y irnportant reason for imnroving worken relations within Poland was the fact that the workers were a key force in securing Gier:ek's position. Horker dissatisfaction v¡ith Gonul-ka had Led to his dor^mfal-l- and to rnaintain his position, Gienek had to gain the r+orkens' acceptance. After six years of rul-e, Edward Gierek has had ample time to secure his position as PZPR Finst secretary and to initiate his program of reforms. Thus, by studying workersr rel-ations within Poland fon this peniod and by comparing them with relations under Gomulka' one can determine whethen Gierek has sought to fulfill his promises and how successful any reforms may have been. such a study is of importance for it will determine whether ::elations unde¡ Gierek represent a significant development over those during his predecessor's regime or whethen there seems to be certain probJ-ems which appear to be inherent in sociarist poland. one can a1so discover the extent to which worker: inputs have infl-uenced party and governrnental decisions. Finally, by considering wonker relations in other East Eunop€an countnies, one can determine whether any changes in the Pol-ish situation are part of a general East European trend and what significance such a trend may have. TABLE OF CONTENTS tIST OF TABLES vL ACKNOWLEDGII']ENTS vl-t FORX}iORD vLLl C}IAPTER 1 The Worker in Pol-and: 1954-1968 7 CTiAPTER II The CoJ-Iapse of I'lorker. Conf idence in Gomulka: 21 1968-1970 CHAPTER III The l{onken and the Party 46 CHAPTER IV The Worker and Government 69 CHAPTER V The hrorker in Industry 99 CHAPTER. V] The Worker as Consumer 119 CHAPTEF. VII The Futune of Worker Relations in Pol-and 752 APPE}TDIX 1 Der¡ands of the Workers of the Szczecin Shipyards 164 APPEì'IDI}i 2 Pnotests to Constitutional Amendment: 767 The Letter of 59 ïntellectual-s to the Speaker of the Diet of the Polish Peoplers Rep.ub1ic Letter to the High Commission 770 Letter of Antoni Slonimski 772 APPENDIX 3 The Pol-ish League for Independence 174 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 776 ABBREVÏATÏONS 185 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Structure of Investments 1950-l-958 6 7.2 Per Capita Consumption of SeJ-ected Consumer Goods I 1.3 RetaiL Prices of Selected Goods .J 1.4 Production of Selected Goods 1954-1958 77 1.5 Production of Selected Goods 1960-1967 24 2.7 Sel-ected Consumer Price Changes 40 3.1 Party Preferences in Hypothetical Free Elections 51 in Pol-and, Hungary and Czechos,l-ovakia 3,2 Politicat Expectations in Poland, Hungany and 53 Czechoslovakia 3.3 Assessments of the Political Situations in Poland, 54 Hungary and Czechos.Iovakia 3.4 Politica1 Expectations in Poland 59 3.5 Assessment of the PoliticaÌ Situation in Poland 59 3.6 Cornposition of PZPR 65 lr1 Propontion of Seats in the Sejm 87 6.1 Housing Conditions in East Eunope 725 6.2 llage Distnibution Per Month r29 6.3 Average Nominal- Gnoss Wages in the National Economy 130 6.4 Exchange Rates on JuJ-y 22, 1976 131 6.5 Per Capita Consumption of Foodstuffs and Related 133 Goods - Po1and 6.6 Per Capita Consumption of Foodstuffs and Rel-ated 134 Goods - East Germany 6.7 Per Capita Consumption of Foodstuffs and Rel-ated 135 Goods - Hungary 6.8 Se.l-ected Proposed Recompensations for 1976 Pr"ice 144 fncreases t.! Party Composition 153 7.2 Constitutional Provisions on the Partyts Role 15 / ACKNOI.ILEDGEÌ'IENTS I would l-ike'to thank afl- those peopJ-e who heJ-ped me to compJ-ete this wonk. t'1r. Dziedzíc of the Polish Press A¡¡eney and Mr. Re¡rman of Radio Fnee Eunope fon their heJ-pful inforrnation on the changes in the Pol-ish Constitution; Jim Campbell, Sandy Gillies and Teresa Samulski for proofneading my text; and my typist, Jan Hollanitsch, who not only learned hor+ to type PoJ-ish but managed to read my hieroglyphics. I wouLd also like to thank al-I those who tol-erated me during my peniods tt of ttgenius . My thanks also to the Kosciuszko Foundation. Without their financial aid, I could not have devoted my time and energies to my studies. Finally, f would especiaJ-ly like to thank Professor Davis Daycock, rny advísor, for his patience, direction, and wo::ds of wisdom. His enthusiasm and dedication to my thesis inspired me to continue my wor^k through all adversities. Whenever I began to despain, I took solace in Professor Daycockts words to rne, I'Dontt worry, youtlÌ graduate--- eventualJ-y. " Larny Joe Romans Octoben, I977 FOREI.IORD lihen studying the state of the wo¡'ker in a socialist society,' sever.al introductory obsenvations must be made. Acconding to Marxist- Leninist theory, the worker is to pJ-ay an important rol-e in the his- torical development of man. It is the proletaniat, as a class, which revolts against the bourgeoisie and capitalism. Only the proletaniat can lead mankind to higher stages of development, for, as the Manifesto of the Communist Party stated, "Of al.L the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the p::oLetariat alone is a really nevolutionary class. The other c.Iasses decay and finally disappean in the face of modern Industry..."1 After the victory oven the fonces of capitalism, the working class must assume the role of "...the builder of socialist society.r'2 Guided by ì'larxism-Leninism, the Communist Par"ty is dominant in socialist society. This dominance is based on the Partyrs claim to represent the victorious all-iance of workers and peasants through the dictatorship of the proletariat. The ultimate goal- of the Communist Party and the workersr state is to neach the highest stage of mankind t s development, communism. This goaì- wil-I be achieved by the development lKarl- Marx and Fniednich EngeJ-s, I'lanifesto of the Communist Party, Robert C. Tucker, Edito:r, The Marx-Engels Reader, ll .!l . Norton 6 Co., New York, I972r pp. 343-34+ 2Vt"di*io Lenin, "The Histonical Fate of the Doctnine of Karl t'lanx", Collected Viorks, VoJ-. 1B (April 1912-March 1913), Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1963, Þ. 582 of society politically, economically, and social-Ìy. Po1itically, the Party through the state apparatus, must seek to consolidate its position and e.l-iminate all potential enemies to socialism. A further task of the Party is to encourage and promote the development of mass panticipation in the decision-making process. EconomicalJ-y, socialist states are marked by the social ovrnership of the means of production. This means that , trl'lost natural resources and capital are socialized, including land, manufacturing industries, banking, finance, and domestic and foreign tnade.
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