Polish farm leaders call a strike in northern area

The unofficial Rural Solidarity farmers union called a provincewide strike alert in northern Poland Tuesday, ignoring a call for moderation from labor leader Lech Walesa that helped cancel a strike in Radom. The peasants union, which lost a court battle for government recognition, declared the provincial strike alert in the city of Bydgoszcz to support a farmers' sit-in.

Mr. Walesa, in his most fervent plea to give the new government a chance, earlier urged workers to st ay on the job.