The leader of a six-day strike at the Lenin Shipyard said Saturday that management generally agreed to pay increases, reinstate fired activists and grant an amnesty for strikers, sources said.
Strike committee chairman Alojzy Szablewski emerged from three hours of talks Saturday evening smiling broadly and calling the negotiations "a big step forward."According to witnesses, he told the strikers that management in principle accepted the committee's demands to increase pay at least $38 a month, reinstate fired Solidarity activists and grant amnesty for the approximately 1,000 strikers occupying the plant.
Three deputy directors of the shipyard taking part in the talks refused to discuss demands for legalization of a Solidarity local at the shipyard and freedom for political prisoners, saying those issues were outside their competence, Szablewski said.
A 15-minute audio broadcast by Solidarity, the illegal trade federation, broke into the communist government's television news at 9:30 p.m. in Gdansk. Solidarity founder Lech Walesa could be heard telling strikers: "You are to decide whether we accept or fight for Solidarity. It's your decision. In the case of a pacification (raid), I'll be the last to leave the shipyard."
The speech was taped at a rally in the shipyard after the talks and broadcast a short time later, Solidarity sources said.
Management already had expressed willingness in talks with the official union to raise wages by about $38 a month, but it is the first time management has engaged in talks with the unofficial strike committee and, according to the sources, made the promise directly to the strikers.
The state-run news agency PAP filed a report saying no agreement was reached but that talks were to continue Sunday.