The Trade Union Movement (Ruch Związkowy)
Initiated by the Movement for Defence of Human and Civic Rights, published in the years 1978-1980 in Łódź, the newspaper was targeted at workers’ communities. A caption explained the assumptions of its program: “The newspaper devoted to the revival of the free trade union movement in Poland”. The editorial board of the newspaper consisted of four persons: Andrzej Woźnicki from Łódź (chief editor) was responsible for the major part of tasks, while other representatives of the Free Trade Unions were: Kazimierz Świtoń from Katowice, Roman Kściuczek from Mysłowice, and Jan Zapolnik from Gdańsk. The newspaper was printed across the city of Łódź, mainly in the house of Colonel Jan Szostak (formerly in the Home Army) and in a flat rented by Piotr Tomczak.
The publications contained information materials and official announcements of the Free Trade Unions of Upper Silesia and of the Coast, as well as short historical texts—e.g. on the occasion of the 11th November, 1st September, or the commemoration of the 1970 protests (Grudzień 1970). There were eight issues in total, with up to 8 pages each. Four numbers were published in 1978, followed by only one number in 1979 and so the Security Service confiscated materials for the following numbers. Numbers 6 and 8 were never published, although they were taken into account in the numbering of the newspaper. The year 1980 brought three numbers—number 7 as of the 1st March, the two following number (9 and 10) were published in the new political and social situation and were fully devoted to the new emerging trade union.