A sour Polish anniversary as price of bread surges

The government marked the first anniversary of the divided and weakened Solidarity union Monday by tripling the price of bread, doubling the price of flour, and refusing to loosen its grip on state media.

The moves, though expected and announced well in advance, were significant, since the two driving forces that led to formation of Solidarity last Aug. 31 were worker complaints about food shortages and a distorted media. Failure to make much progress in the two areas was causing rising dissension in the union and encouraging the government to launch increasingly bitter attacks against Solidarity.