Site Of Solidarity’s Birth To Close Shipyard, Subsidized In Recent Years, Deeply In Debt

The historic Gdansk shipyard where the Solidarity labor movement was born will be closed due to mounting debt, stockholders decided Saturday.

The government, which owns 60 percent of the stock, wants to shut down the yard and begin bankruptcy proceedings. The yard’s debt is estimated at $140 million.

The Solidarity trade union emerged from 1980 anti-communist strikes at the shipyard. The strikes led to the fall of the communist government.

Solidarity founder Lech Walesa, who repaired battery-powered carts at the yard, went on to became Poland’s first post-communist president in 1990. During his five-year term, the shipyard received large government subsidies.

In November elections, former communist Aleksander Kwasniewski beat Walesa, and the new administration has refused to bail out the shipyard.

Its difficulties became public last month when management said the yard had no money for April wages. The workers, who own 40 percent of the stock, staged a strike and demanded that the government find a way to save the yard.

Solidarity union leaders said closing the yard would put 7,300 employees out of work. They planned to protest the decision.