Solidarity was founded in August 1980 at the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard after massive strikes over food prices.

In the summer of 1980, deteriorating economic conditions and rising food prices sparked massive strikes across Poland. Under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa, an electrician, workers at the Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard organized the Interfactory Strike Committee. They demanded rights independent of the Communist Party. On August 31, the cash-strapped regime capitulated. This historic agreement birthed Solidarity, the very first independent trade union officially recognized within the Soviet sphere of influence.