The shipyard worker who helped launch independent unionism
“We had been preparing for the strike for seven days, and the day came when it had to begin here in the shipyard.”
Jerzy Borowczak was a young Gdańsk shipyard worker who helped open the way to Poland's independent trade-union movement in 1980. With Bogdan Felski and Ludwik Prądzyński, he launched the strike on 14 August, demanding Anna Walentynowicz's reinstatement, higher wages, and a memorial to the victims of 1970. He continued resisting after martial law, enduring internment and dismissal before returning to the shipyard in 1989.
Career Timeline
- 1977Graduated from the Gdańsk Shipbuilding Technical School
- 1979Worker at Gdańsk Shipyard and collaborator with the Free Trade Unions of the Coast
- 1980Launched the August strike with Bogdan Felski and Ludwik Prądzyński
- 1980–1981Founding member and deputy chair of the Solidarność shipyard committee
- 1981–1982Resisted martial law and was interned at Iława
- 1982–1989Worked for the Świetlik high-altitude work cooperative after dismissal
- 1989–1993Returned to the shipyard and chaired its Solidarność committee
- 2000–2023Member of the Polish Sejm and director of the Gdańsk Solidarity Centre Foundation