Playing Hooky

The electrician takes a holiday

Most Polish workers would be happy to have two weeks off in the prune holiday month of August, but not Electrician Lech Walesa. When officials at the Gdansk shipyard turned down a request from the former Solidarity trade-union leader for vacation in July or September and offered him August instead, Walesa decided to play hooky. Accompanied by his wife Danuta and three of their seven children, he climbed into the family's white Volkswagen minibus and set off for Sokolow Podlaski, a small town 55 miles from Warsaw, to go fishing. He claimed that his holiday request had been approved by supervisors but later rescinded. Said Walesa: "The foreman and shift boss decide when every other worker can take his vacation. Why must my vacation be decided by a general?"

Walesa's pointed barb at Military Ruler General Wojciech Jaruzelski indicated that the former Solidarity leader had no intention of retiring from public life, even though Pope John Paul II was rumored to have suggested such a move during his recent visit to Poland. As all Poles are well aware, Aug. 31 marks the third anniversary of the signing of the agreement at the Lenin shipyard that created Solidarity. The military regime, apparently fearful that Walesa's mere presence at the yard might encourage a wave of antigovernment demonstrations, preferred that he be out of town. Walesa is just as determined to be on the scene, and for that reason, persuaded another worker to trade his July 3-17 holiday for the two weeks in August Walesa had been offered.

Walesa's act of defiance could cost him his job repairing battery-powered vehicles, a post he was given in April following his release from eleven months' detention. Officials at the Gdansk shipyard went to considerable lengths last week to play down the implications of the former union leader's absence. But when Walesa failed to show up for the third day in a row, making him technically liable for dismissal, shipyard officials suggested they might take disciplinary action.

The vacationing Walesa did not appear overly worried about losing his job and its monthly salary of $289. He has vowed to take the matter to court if he is fired. Said he: "The law must be equal for everybody. I did everything to reach an agreement. But if they fire me, I will have more time to travel and meet new people." The regime may wonder if a Walesa unemployed might cause more trouble than a Walesa employed. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.