COMMUNISM'S NEGOTIATED COLLAPSE:
THE POLISH ROUND TABLE TALKS OF 1989,
TEN YEARS LATER
A Conference at the University of Michigan, April 7-10, 1999

Trained as an electrical technician, Zbigniew Bujak (b. 1954) worked for several years at the Ursus tractor factory near Warsaw. He co-organized a strike there in 1980, and became one of the leading figures in the Solidarity movement. From 1981 to 1989 he was head of Solidarity for the Mazowsze region, and until his arrest in 1986 he was the most prominent opposition figure to avoid detention. In 1986, Bujak was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. From 1987 to 1989 he was a member of Solidarity's National Executive Committee; from 1990 to 1991 he served as President of the Stefan Batory Foundation. A Deputy in the Sejm from 1991 to 1997, he represented the Democratic Social Movement (1991-93) and the Union of Labor (1993-97). Bujak writes frequently on Polish politics and is currently a leading member of the Freedom Union party.

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