A reform-minded party official caught between control and negotiation
On the first day of the strike, he ordered an immediate collection of on-site information, saying the security service reports could not be trusted.
Tadeusz Fiszbach was a Polish United Workers' Party official and diplomat who led the party organization in Gdańsk from 1975. During the August 1980 strike, he opposed a violent solution and entered the first talks with worker representatives, remaining involved on the government side after Mieczysław Jagielski arrived. His conciliatory management nevertheless collided with the party's effort to contain an independent union, and martial law pushed him out of central politics. He later served as deputy marshal of the Sejm and as ambassador to Finland and Latvia.
Activities and affiliations
- 1975–1985 Political and party leadership · Poland
Career Timeline
- 1959Joined the Polish United Workers' Party
- 1964–1968Secretary of the Elbląg district party committee
- 1968–1971Secretary of the Tczew district party committee
- 1971–1975Secretary of the Gdańsk provincial party committee
- 1975–1982First Secretary of the Gdańsk provincial party committee
- 1976–1985Deputy to the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic
- 1982–1986Counsellor at the Polish Embassy in Helsinki
- 2001–2005Polish ambassador to Latvia
Related historical events
The 1980 Gdańsk strike and the party’s negotiating strategy
In August 1980, Tadeusz Fiszbach was a leading local party official seeking to manage the Gdańsk strike through negotiations. On 16 August he offered workers at the regional transport enterprise a 50 percent wage increase and safety after the strike, on condition that they resume work the next day. The proposal could have isolated the shipyard strike, but workers resumed their protest and formed the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (MKS), representing several workplaces. The episode shows that Fiszbach’s willingness to negotiate did not mean that his policy aligned with the strikers’ demands. He did not accept the creation of independent trade unions, and his initial proposal risked weakening the workers’ collective position.
As the strike spread and forceful suppression was considered by the authorities, however, Fiszbach supported negotiations within the party leadership. At a Politburo meeting on 26 August, he argued that ending the strike was the country’s overriding priority and that society stood in solidarity with the strikers; he rejected the interpretation of the strike as an anti-socialist conspiracy. He also criticized the idea of forcibly suppressing it. The government negotiators eventually agreed to the creation of independent, self-governing trade unions, and the Gdańsk Agreement was signed on 31 August. His role thus illustrates the tension between the party’s initial efforts to retain control and a negotiated settlement, as workers’ independent action and organization changed the terms of negotiation. This account documents his role as a negotiator without erasing the party’s role in seeking to control the strike.