Zbigniew Bujak

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Zbigniew Bujak was an electrician and foreman in 1980 at the Ursus tractor factory near Warsaw, Poland. He became engaged with trade union activists, and during the strike action, he organized strike committees at the Ursus factory. He became chairman of the Warsaw Solidarity branch in September 1980 and was one the few Solidarity leaders who escaped arrest in 1981 after martial law in Poland was declared to break Solidarity. He became one of the leaders of the underground Solidarity's movement, organizing underground committees including underground press and radio. He was finally arrested in 1984 after evading the secret police (Służba Bezpieczeństwa) for nearly three and a half years, becoming the last Solidarity's leader to be captured. Soon afterwards he was released in general amnesty, and participated in Polish Round Table Talks with the government in 1989. He was elected to Sejm (Polish parliament) in Polish legislative elections, 1989. In the 1990s he joined right-wing, liberal political parties, including Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna, Unia Demokratyczna and Unia Wolności. In 1992 he helped found the Labour Union (UP) party and was one of the party's leading members. He won a seat to the Sejm at the 1993 legislative elections, representing UP, and served as an M.P until 1997. He also held the position of chairman of Główny Urząd Ceł (Main Tariff's Office). In the 2000s, after his 2002 defeat for the post of mayor of Warsaw, he stopped participating actively in politics.