Duda, Peter

Since 1980, he worked as a turner at a metallurgical plant in Gliwice . In 1981-1983 he served in the Airborne Forces . He served in an elite unit stationed in Syria ^[1] . After the army he returned to the factory. He did not participate in the activities of the underground "Solidarity".

Joined Solidarity after the deregulation of the union in 1989 . In 1992 he headed the factory trade union organization, in 1995 he was elected to the trade union center of the Silesian-Dombrow region. He was an activist and regional treasurer of AWS , supported the right-wing policy of Marian Kshaklevsky .

In 2002 - 2010 - Chairman of the Silesian-Dombrowi trade union center and member of the National Solidarity Commission.

On October 21, 2010 he was elected Chairman of Solidarity, replacing Janusz Schnyadek on this post. Peter Duda was the first of the leaders of the legendary union who did not belong to the Solidarity of the 1980s.

In the elections, Duda opposed the Schnyadek line with the principle of trade union de-politicization (Snyadek’s positions were undermined by the defeat of his ally, Yaroslav Kaczynski, in the presidential election ). He also spoke in favor of expanding the independence of regional trade union centers.

Despite the declared apoliticality, Duda confirmed that the right-wing conservative party, Law and Justice ( PiS ), remains the main ally of Solidarity. Like Schnyadek, Duda speaks in a political alliance with Kaczynski ^[2] . The position of the trade union and its chairman is strongly hostile to the legacy of the Communist Party ^[3] and to the Janusz Palikot Movement .

However, the main opponent of Solidarity at this stage is the liberal government of Donald Tusk with its harsh social policy.

Some are trying to convince us that there was a first, second, then third “Solidarity”, but this is not so. And today - in conditions of democracy and freedom - we stand for the rights of workers. Once we fought for a free democratic Poland, but today we see that in our country there is 19th-century capitalism, which makes a slave out of a worker. Those who were in Solidarity in 1980, but today carry out other tasks - well, at least as Prime Minister Donald Tusk or Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz - now they say that this is not a union. Nothing like this! Today, our union unites more than 700 thousand trade unions, and it continues to protect and will protect the interests of Polish workers.
Peter Duda ^[4]

In September 2013, Peter Duda led mass rallies of Solidarity against Tusk’s cabinet and government plans to tighten social and labor laws ^[5] .

On October 8, 2014, at the “Solidarity” congress in Bielsko-Biala, Peter Duda was re-elected chairman of the trade union association (on a non-alternative basis) ^[6] .

In the spring of 2011, Peter Duda spoke out in support of protests by US unions ^[7] in Wisconsin :

Dear sisters and brothers. On behalf of the 700,000 members of the Polish Solidarity trade union, I would like to express our support for your fight against the recent attack on trade union rights by Governor Scott Walker . We are witnessing yet another attempt to shift the costs of the economic crisis and unsuccessful financial policies to the working people. We hope for your success in the fight for decent working and living conditions. Your victory is also our victory. We are following the development of events, let us know where we can help ^[8] .