EIGHT hundred people marched through the streets of Glasgow last Saturday to demand an end to martial law in Poland, the release of all those jailed or interned, and full recognition of Solidarnosc.
The march, organised by the Glasgow Polish Solidarity Committee, was the climax of a tour by Solidarnosc activists Piotr Kozlowski and Marek Garztecki. Labour movement support was reflected in the Glasgow Trades Council banner at the front followed by that of Stirling Trades Council. Other unions on ine maren included ine tis (Scottish teachers union), NALGO and Also represented were a number of Labour parties; there were Socialist Challenge, Socialist Workers Party, and Scottish National Party banners; and, most significantly, there was a contingent from the Communist Party. covan Shipbullders Lcd. with such people.
A rally at the end chaired by the prospective Labour candidate in the Hillhead by-election David Wiseman, heard former UCS workers' leader Jimmy Reid begin by denouncing the nauseous spectacle 'of Reagan's global TV programme on 31 January. This was the murderer of the people of El Salvador, he pointed out; the man who had jailed the leaders of the Air Traffic Controllers Strike in the USA. Our campaign should have nothing to do The audience rose to its feet and vigorously applauded when Kozlowski, senior steward from the Ursus tractor plant, took the microphone to explain. how Solidarnose had been a real movement of the working class. That was why it had been suppressed. And that was why he and Garztecki were most anxious to build up contacts with trade unionists in Britain.
After speeches by Labour MPs, John Maxton and Dennis Canavan and Labour MEP Janey Buchan, the final contribution came from Garztecki. They wanted a labour movement campaign, he said, because the experience of their tour was that it was oralnary working people who instinclively understood and supported Solidarnose's struggle. He added that the same went for people he had met during the week from El Salvador, Chile, Iran and Turkey. Wearing an 'El Salvador will win' badge, he explained that 'we are comrades in the struggle'.
The final collection taken for the campaign raised over £500. This included £20 from the Lee Jeans workers presented by convenor Ellen Monaghan who said it was misleading to compare their struggle with that of Solidarnosc. 'We had it easy', she explained, 'because of the type of support we got from the labour movement. That's what Solidarnose needs now'