Workers '80

Duration: 90

Year Published: 1980

Creator: Inter-American Productions

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: sound

Description: Solidarity was responsible for making this film as a precondition to the talks which took place at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk in August 1980. Opening with interviews with the workers, the film centers on the negotiation process headed by Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa. Walesa brought 21 points to the negotiating table including the demand for independent trade unions, the right to strike and human rights issues such as reduced censorship, religious freedom and the abolition of illegal arrests. Each point was fought across the table with the government delegation headed by Vice Premier Jagielski. As a document of the event, this film, banned in Poland, was sent outside the country through the Vatican.