A former shipyard worker whose 1980 firing triggered the labor protest that spawned Poland's Solidarity movement was awarded $23,000 on Tuesday for her imprisonment more than two decades ago
Published:
24 February 2005 y., Thursday
A former shipyard worker whose 1980 firing triggered the labor protest that spawned Poland's Solidarity movement was awarded $23,000 on Tuesday for her imprisonment more than two decades ago.
A regional court in the central Poland city of Torun ruled Tuesday that Anna Walentynowicz's 1983 incarceration ruined her health and caused her substantial financial losses.
"I'm very pleased," Walentynowicz, who did not attend the court proceedings, said by telephone from her home in the city of Gdansk.
Walentynowicz, 75, said she has often found it difficult to buy expensive medicine that she requires with her regular pension of $433 a month.
Walentynowicz, an activist in the illegal free-union movement, was dismissed from her job as a crane operator at Gdansk's Lenin shipyard in August 1980 - prompting employees to stop work in protest.
Lech Walesa, then a union organizer who also had been dismissed, took charge of the strike. In two dramatic weeks, the workers won guarantees for the first independent union in the Soviet bloc and broad social political concessions.
Šaltinis:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The Champs Elysees rings in the holiday season with a festive lighting display.
more »
Westminster Abbey is confirmed as the venue for the wedding of Britain's Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011.
more »
15,000 pilgrams flock to see official unveiling of the world's tallest statue of Jesus in Poland.
more »
Muslims in Bangladesh go to market to buy livestock to slaughter for the approaching holy Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
more »
Ten–year strategy for people with disabilities so they can take part in all aspects of daily life across the EU.
more »
Ahead of the Africa-EU Summit taking place from 29-30 November in Libya, the Commission presents today its proposals for a consolidation of the Africa-EU relations.
more »
Average CO2 emissions from new cars sold in the EU dropped by 5% last year, the biggest annual fall ever recorded, a report published today by the European Commission shows.
more »
Baby koala fights for her life in Australia after being injured by shotgun fire.
more »
Plans to give consumers more control over how personal information is collected and used.
more »
A severe drought pushes river levels in Brazil's Amazon region to record lows, isolating communities and strangling vital boat transport links.
more »