Strajk! Skok do wolności

In the game Strajk, (a.k.a. "Strike"), you get the chance to step into the shoes of Lech Wałęsa (pronounced "va-WEN-sa") and direct the activities of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee (MKS) in the Vladimir Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk in August 1980. The time of the sympathy strike and negotiations of the 21 Demands with the government delegation, completed by signing the August Agreements and the emergence of Solidarność (the Solidarity movement), is the period when Lech Wałęsa scaled the shipyard fence and became not only the leader of the opposition, but also a front-page public figure. Because of the strike, he became the head of Solidarity, received the Nobel Peace Prize, and was elected President of the Republic of Poland.

You begin the game with only your quick wit and gift of the gab. Everybody in turn controls the actions of Lech Wałęsa, gaining support for the strike in the shipyard. You use walking and running cards to move Wałęsa around the board. You use speech cards to win over the workers and residents of Gdańsk. With them on his side, Wałęsa draws the attention of foreign correspondents. Press interviews inform the entire country of the shipbuilders’ struggle, which causes other groups to join the strike, and the shipyard is visited by delegates of MKS (Międzyzakładowy Komitet Strajkowy: the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee) and the MKS Committee of Experts under Tadeusz Mazowiecki. Being certain of support from the delegates and experts, you can attempt to negotiate the strike demands. The winner is the person who, as Lech Wałęsa, is the first to gain 2 demand cards.

Will you be able to win over the crowd, gain favor in the eyes of the world, and lead the strike to victory?