Day of Solidarity and Freedom

Strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, 1980

I've noticed as of late there are a large number of politicians and media pundits who decry anything they disagree with to be socialism. Progressive leaders moving toward universal health coverage and other government social programs are put into the same category as Stalin, Marx, and Lenin. Ironically, these same would-be Joseph McCarthys generally are also against trade unions--just the same as, well, actual 20th century communists. Let me be perfectly clear so as not to equivocate: If you are against trade unions you have more in common with communists than someone who is for them.

In fact, trade unions were hugely instrumental in the fall of European communism. At the forefront was the world's most famous union, Solidarność, better known in English as Solidarity. Led by the charismatic electrician Lech Wałęsa, workers at the Lenin shipyard in Gdańsk had been striking for months, waiting for the government to give into their demands for equality, religious freedom, and workers' rights. In August of 1980, the government eventually had to give into their demands, signing the August Agreement which gave the union influence over the corrupt government. The union became hugely popular, at one point a quarter of the population were members.

Cover of Polish punk rock group Big Cyc's album "Don't Trust Electricians" with a picture of Wałęsa

Throughout the 80s the government did their best to bring the union down, through repression and martial law. On the second anniversary of the agreement on August 31, 1982 anti-government demonstrations turned violent and three were killed in the town of Lubin. But ultimately, the government was nothing without the workers and they were forced to negotiate with the union, opening the way to semi-free elections in 1989 and Wałęsa as president. 

To celebrate the freedom and rights of workers everywhere, we decided to go with one of my favorite Polish dishes--pierogies. Since our son is allergic to eggs we found a vegan recipe for the dough (found here). It worked out very well, my only advice is to help firmly seal the pierogi when you close them, you might want to lightly coat the edges with oil. For the filling we mashed up a potato with sautéed onions and boiled cabbage. We then added some soy-based cream cheese for some and shredded cheese to the others.

Our Pierogies

After boiling the dumplings till they floated to the top we did our best to fry them. It didn't work out too well at first, but we eventually got the hang of it. I think we were using too little oil and it wasn't hot enough. Once we added more oil and got it good and hot everything worked out perfectly. We had it with some turkey kielbasa and peas on the side. I suppose it tasted like freedom, albeit greasy high-calorie freedom.