(Fwd) [61] POLISH WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AT CLOSED GDANSK SH

["Curtis Price" <cansv@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Date:          Fri, 14 Mar 1997 16:55:47 -0500
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Subject:       [61] POLISH WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AT CLOSED GDANSK SHIPYARD

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Polish workers continue protest at closed Gdansk shipyard
By CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI

Associated Press Writer

GDANSK, Poland (AP) -- Lech Walesa urged a general strike Friday aimed at
toppling the Polish government, in a show of support for workers protesting the
closure of the bankrupt shipyard where the Solidarity movement was born.

Walesa, who was accused of coddling the Gdansk shipyard with government
subsidies during his five years as Poland's president, blamed the current
government of former communists for ``ruining the shipyard from the very
beginning.''

``I'd opt for a firm struggle, including a general strike that could lead to the
 toppling of the ex-communists,'' Walesa said in a telephone interview with The
Associated Press.

About 1,200 workers marched into downtown Gdansk on Friday for a third straight
day of protests since last week's announcement that all 3,600 shipyard employees
 would be laid off because no banks could be found to guarantee loans to finance
 shipbuilding projects.

The workers chanted ``Down with communists!'' at a rally at the shipyard before
marching downtown, where they burned tires in front of the municipal building.

The shipyard, with a $150 million debt, was declared bankrupt in August. The
government, which owns 60 percent of the yard, and bankruptcy receivers sought
loans and contracts to try to keep part of it going, but the banks backed out
when the government refused to fully guarantee loans for the projects.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who defeated Walesa in 1995, ``is deeply
worried'' about the loss of so many jobs, his spokesman, Antoni Styrczula, said
on Polish radio Friday.

Solidarity leaders, meeting in Warsaw late Thursday, accused the government of
closing the shipyard as an act of revenge.

``For political reasons, the plant was doomed for economic failure just at the
moment when a realistic restructuring plan, accepted by the workers, was
ready,'' they said in a statement after the session.

Piotr Andrzejewski, a Solidarity legislator, said the movement would ``resort to
 all legal forms of protest,'' including a general strike.

With Walesa's support, the shipyard's Solidarity-led management resisted
restructuring or cost-cutting as Poland dismantled the communist
centrally-planned economy.

By contrast, Poland's two other big shipyards at Szczecin and Gdynia, slimmed
down to become competitive in the free market and are now among Europe's leading
 yards.

AP-WS-03-14-97 1447EST



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