August 31, 2018, marks the 38th anniversary of the signing of the “August Agreements” in the BHP hall of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. These agreements ended a wave of strikes that began in August 1980 on the coast but soon spread to many cities across Poland. Lech Wałęsa was the signatory on behalf of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee, and Mieczysław Jagielski represented the government delegation. This was one of the most important events on the road to freedom for our country, and the 21 demands of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee were recognized as one of the most important documents in history and were added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.
Referring to these events, we present a small diorama – Lech Wałęsa on a Stal-258 electric truck (also known as WA-2) with boards depicting the 21 demands of the Inter-Enterprise Strike Committee.
The Stal 258 electric truck was developed and manufactured by the Huta Stalowa Wola plant from the 1960s. It was designed to transport goods weighing up to 2 tons within factories and industrial plants, between departments and production halls. It was also widely used for transporting mail and luggage at railway stations and airports. Equipped with pneumatic wheels, the vehicle also had a towbar, allowing it to tow several trailers.
An interesting fact related to the scene presented in our museum is that Lech Wałęsa operated such electric battery trucks at the Gdańsk Shipyard – working as an electrician.
Technical specifications Stal 258 (WA-2):
Length: 2.22 m
Width: 1.25 m
Wheelbase: 1.57 cm
Unladen weight: 1.5 t
Number of places: 2
Payload: 2 t
Drive: 2 electric motors, 2 kW each
Battery capacity: 200 Ah
Maximum speed: 14.5 km/h
Range: up to 80 km
