[3] Solksi was a member of Sudbury's Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) Trade Union Committee in the 1940s, at a time when the local party organization was engaged in an extremely bitter dispute with the CCF's provincial leadership, who charged that Mine Mill in Sudbury was dominated by members of the rival Communist Party of Canada.
(Ted Jolliffe, who served as Ontario CCF leader in this period, later remarked that the rivalry between Mine Mill and Steel, rather than charges of communist infiltration, was the real reason for the dispute.
Mine Mill's rivalry with the Steelworkers continued in full force during this period, and Solski had to fend off attempted raids on his membership.
In what was presumably a bid to win the support of rank-and-file Steelworkers members, Solski actually pledged a significant amount of money for Steel in its battles against mine owners in Northern Ontario and Quebec during the early 1950s.
Just before the strike, Solski held direct talks with Ontario premier Leslie Frost in a bid for a negotiated settlement.
[10] Solski returned to an executive position with Mine Mill in 1960, winning election as the leader of its newly formed eastern district, which covered Ontario and Manitoba.
[14] During his time as president of Local 598, Solski was regarded as an ally of Mine Mill's national and international leaders, many of whom were communists.
[16] The author Cameron Smith has written that Local 598 was never under communist control and was large enough to act on its own accord, without recourse to Mine Mill's national or international leadership.
Solski's radical labour past was used against him in this election when NDP Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Ken Bryden described him as a "commie" during a legislative debate.
On November 15, 1978, Solski was shot by a disgruntled ratepayer, Romeo Karim, while attending his final council meeting.