On 24 June 1976 Prime Minister of Polish People's Republic Piotr Jaroszewicz announced a plan for a sudden increase in prices of food and other basic commodities. This led to protests all over Poland, with the most prominent strikes and demonstrations taking place in Radom, Płock, and Ursus district of Warsaw. The communist authorities deemed them to be ‘insignificant hooligan actions’, and the protests were brutally suppressed by the Citizen’s Militia. Mass arrests and dismissals followed. Protesters had difficulties to find employment, and those indicated as the leaders of the demonstrations were sentenced up to 10 years of imprisonment. As a result, the Workers Defense Committee (Komitet Obrony Robotników – KOR) was established by a group of Polish intellectuals with the aim to offer aid to those affected by the government crackdown.