Lech Wałęsa signs the Gdańsk Accord in 1980 Erazm Ciołek

Late August and early September are the time of the year when Poland remembers the so-called August Accords (Porozumienia Sierpniowe) of 1980 between the country’s communist authorities and its striking workers, as well as the subsequent official registration of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity,” a key center of opposition to the regime throughout the decade.

This year’s 30th anniversary will be celebrated in Szczecin, Tri-city and Jastrzębie Zdrój, where the accords were signed on August 30, August 31 and September 3, respectively, as well as in Warsaw, Wrocław and Katowice. Events will include a national congress of Solidarity members and a number of special shows and concerts.

All of this will take place amid substantial controversy and debate about Solidarity’s place in contemporary Poland. As has often been the case in recent years, the celebrations are expected to be held against a backdrop of political conflict and deep-running divisions between the trade union’s historic leaders.

President Bronisław Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and former President Lech Wałęsa, the first head of Solidarity, have all received invitations to the trade union’s national congress in Gdynia. Mr Wałęsa, for one, has already declined. Controversially though, none of them received an invitation to the celebration in Jastrzębie Zdrój.

The leader of the region’s Solidarity chapter, Piotr Duda, has explained in the media that the move was motivated by the union’s inability to ensure a “worthy reception” for the president. It was feared that Mr Komorowski could be booed by the miners there. As for Mr Tusk, he has repeatedly ignored invitations in the past few years, Mr Duda said.

Solidarity officially backed Law and Justice party leader Jarosław Kaczyński in the recent presidential election, saying he represented the values and ideals of August 1980. The union has contested many of the Tusk government’s policies of late and has particularly resented its failure to rescue Poland’s shipyards, the cradle of Solidarity.