Propozycje pomocy socjalnej dla bezrobotnych w programach opozycji demokratycznej w latach 1979 – 1989 roku

Abstract

The article discusses issues connected with the problem of unemployment. Statute documents, proclamations, articles of the underground press prepared by members of democratic opposition in the years 1979-1989 have been used for this paper. The 'Karta' Archive and 'Biblioteka Narodowa' (National Library) are also important primary sources of material for this article. Among the concepts focusing on combating negative social consequences of unemployment social-democratic and liberal ones deserve special attention. Social democrats maintained that long-term, comprehensive aid should be organized for the unemployed. According to supporters of the liberal option, social welfare for the unemployed should be restricted to the minimum. Lack of agreement as to the role of the state's interference with the employment market was the cause of one of the most fundamental conflict among the representatives of democratic opposition. Leszek Moczulski and Zbigniew Bujak presented the point of view of the social democratic fraction, whereas Janusz Korwin-Mikke and Donald Tusk, together with the group gathered around the 'Gdanskie Towarzystwo Spoleczno-Gospodarcze' (Gdansk Social and Economic Association), belonged to liberals. The discussion on unemployment, which in the nineteen-eighties was of a concealed nature, proves that representatives of various opposition groups could boast great economic and political intuition.