"Solidarity is Poland's second name" - PM

Addressing Thursday's official gathering in Zabrze, southern Poland, to mark the 40th anniversary of the Solidarity trade union's birth, PM Mateusz Morawiecki stated that "Solidarity is Poland's second name."

"Solidarity is more than a slogan, even more than a trade union, it is a phenomenon which extends beyond our borders," said the prime minister.

Observances marking the 40th anniversary of the Solidarity trade union's birth are being held in Jastrzębie Zdrój, Katowice and Zabrze (southern Poland) on Thursday.

Repeating that Solidarity was more than a name and a phenomenon that crossed Poland's borders, Morawiecki said that, for him, it was not just a social movement. He stated that it would forever be described in the history of our homeland as a great national-social independence movement and, at the same time, a movement whose aim was to fight for the human dignity of everyone Pole.

According to Morawiecki, Solidarity is not just history. "Solidarity is the direction of our actions and the direction which should guide the politics of every good government and those who represent working people," he said.

Signed on September 3, 1980, the Jastrzębie Agreements followed identical accords in Szczecin (August 30) and Gdańsk (August 31). The agreements laid the foundation for the formation of the Solidarity Union, the first independent trade union in the then Soviet bloc, which in 1989 took power from the communists in a partially-free election.