The strike of the female textile industry workers from Łódź broke out 50 years ago. The strikers demanded the withdrawal of the food price increases introduced in December, an increase in wages and a solution to the social and living problems faced by the plants and the city itself. The authorities, surprised by the strike, initially disregarded it. Talks with the strikers - first representatives of local and then central authorities (including the Minister of Light Industry, Tadeusz Kunicki and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Mitręga) ended in a fiasco and led to an escalation of the conflict. More textile factories joined the protest. On 12 February over 12,000 people went on strike in Łódź, 80% of them being women. A protest of such significance could no longer be pacified with promises or small concessions on behalf of the management of the factories.

The President of the Institute of National Remembrance, Jarosław Szarek Ph.D., took part in the ceremonial unveiling of a plaque commemorating the February 1971 strike of female textile industry workers from Łódź.The event was held at the Manufaktura Center in Łódź (the building of the former finishing shop - at the entrance to the Museum of the Factory) on 15 February 2021 at noon.

Visitors were able to view the exhibitions prepared by the IPN Branch in Łódź. The first – ”Na zakrętach historii. Robotnicy Łodzi 1945–1981” - presents the history of post-war workers’ protests in Łódź and the surrounding cities, including the February strikes, while the second one, “Łódź' 71”, briefly discusses the social and living conditions of light industry workers in the early 1970s. The exhibitions will be on display until 29 February.

Historical background

The events of February 1971 constitute an important chapter not only in the history of Łódź itself, but also the entire country. It was the Łódź strikes that directly contributed to the communist authorities backing out of their decision to raise the prices of meat and other food products. For years, the historical narrative has preserved the image that the events taking place at the turn of 1970-1971 took place at short intervals. Meanwhile, it was a two-month process initiated by the December strikes and the massacre of workers on the Coast, continued in January with a second wave of protests, the visits of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, Edward Gierek to Szczecin and Gdańsk, ending with the victorious strikes of the Łódź textile workers in February 1971.

Contact:

Kornelia Zaborska, (42) 616-27-45, Kornelia.Mlynarczyk@ipn.gov.pl

More:

The February 1971 victory that Łódź textile industry workers won over the communist authorities in the archives kept by the Institute of National Remembrance

Strike in the city of textile workers in February 1971
The image of Łódź after 1945 was dominated by communist feminism: the fighter Władysława Bytomska (who died in 1938), the model worker Wanda Gościmińska and the textile worker MichalinaTatarkówna-Majkowska, who ruled the city. At the same time, the rebellion of the women of Łódź, who played a decisive role in the strikes of local factories in February 1971, was erased from memory.