New Jersey Building Trades Honor Polish Labor Leader Lech Walesa

Former Senator Ray Lesniak on his upcoming trip to Poland will present to Lech Walesa, the labor leader whose defiance of Communism prompted the fall of Communism in Poland and other Eastern European Countries, a Resolution from The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council.

“Walesa was a young electrician working on the docks in the shipyards of Gdansk and leading the efforts to form the labor movement Solidarność (Solidarity) which brought worldwide attention to the iron rule of Moscow over Soviet Bloc countries, invoked the ire Moscow, and ultimately lead to the end of the Soviet Union,” explained Lesniak whose grandparents were born in Godowa, Poland. “It’s a great honor to personally present this Resolution to this historic leader for freedom. I thank New Jersey Building and Construction Trades President, Bill Mullen, for recognizing Walesa’s leadership for organized labor,” Lesniak stated.

“Lech Walesa is a giant among giants. We honor his legacy of tirelessly supporting solidarity, free trade unions, and democracy,” said Mullen, a retired IronWorker and President of the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council. We thank our friend and brother, Senator Lesniak, for his commitment to the Building Trades union movement and its members, families, and all New Jersey residents.”

Lesniak is going to Poland with a delegation of concerned Americans to visit orphans from Ukraine, bring them winter clothing, laptops and toys, and to meet with Polish leaders to facilitate the adoption process which has been suspended since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.