The former president of Poland and leader of Solidarity thinks that the government should call a state of emergency if his old union goes through with strike threats in the public sector.
“This is not the patriotic and constrictive Solidarity that I used to know. This is a Solidarity of oligarchs who only think about their own pockets, not the country”, former Solidarity leader and ex president Lech Wałęsa bellowed on TVN24 news channel on Wednesday.
Wałęsa believes Donald Tusk should declare a state of emergency in Poland - effectively banning strike action - if the Solidarity trade union begins to protest, but the former president is sceptical if the PM will be tough and determined enough to do that.
“You [they] should have protested when Kaczyński’s government was in power instead of supporting him”, Lech Wałęsa addressed the Law and Justice (PiS) party.
In Wałęsa’s view, Solidarity has missed a chance of becoming a “true trade union”.
"[The union] should have held Kaczyński brothers and Śniadek (current Solidarity chairman) accountable, dismissed all of their henchmen from their prominent positions and the situation would be clear", he said.
The Solidarity trade union demands negotiations with the government regarding pay rises across the entire public sector in Poland. According to Solidarity chairman, Janusz Śniadek, the government has ignored the trade union’s appeals for a meeting. (mj)