Wildcat strikers ignore Warsaw and their union

November 9, 1981

Wildcat strikers are defying both the Polish government and the Solidarity trade union in an 18-day walkout by 200,000 workers that activists say will not end until they win their demands.

With the Solidarity leadership and officials of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski's government preparing for the resumption of full-scale negotiations, the prolonged strike has become a national symbol of the intractable differences between the union and the government.