Before 1980
Lech Walesa was born on September 29, 1943. The first mention of Walesaâs dissident activity goes back to 1968, when he have encouraged his fellow workers in the Shipyard to boycott official rallies condemning studentsâ strikes. From that time he started to be increasingly active in social matters. He actively participated in the Strike Committee in December 1970, and even was offered the post of the president of the Committee.
After the tragic developments of the 1970 strike, which ended in the death of 39 workers, he swore that he would never allow for such situation to happen again. Soon afterwards Walesa became strongly committed to dissident Free Trade Unions. He would organize Shipyard workersâ actions, distribute underground leaflets, hold meetings to teach workers about their rights and educate them.
