Walesa Page #5

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The reason is that the workers

have not been properly represented.

We're fighting for our own trade union.

We have a right to one.

Just like our other rights.

And who are those gentlemen over there?

Are they Polish citizens?

It's unprecedented to hold negotiations

on national issues

attended by representatives

of the foreign press.

We are talking about our country,

about Poland.

If they're not accredited

Polish journalists...

Please leave the room, thank you.

I've presented the

commission's detailed views

on the 21 demands of the workers.

As for us, we're all set

and we won't back down.

We simply want a decent life

for everyone.

And now Andrzej Gwiazda will present

our perspective on trade unions.

A tree independent trade union will

protect social and material interests

of employees

and will not act as a political party.

We have received the following message:

Miners from coal mines in Silesia

have started a strike of solidarity

with the workers from Gdansk.

Miners from Silesia send their greetings

to the shipyard workers.

The following coal

mines are on strike...

Manifest Lipcowy, Borynia, Jastrzqbie...

Now we've got them!

Lech is coming!

- What are you counting on now?

- An earthquake.

You think it's likely?

I always think what I say.

You are at the driving wheel here.

Aren't you afraid of losing control?

I won't lose control.

Let's all behave like decent people,

and everything will be alright.

The right to strike will be guaranteed

in a new regulation about trade unions.

I propose we prepare a press release

stating that we have reached consensus,

that the strike is over

and that work will continue.

Prime Minister, we're almost done,

we'll go through what's left in a flash.

So I suggest... since we have been

waiting for so long...

It's Saturday. Let's keep on

working through Sunday...

to have the agreement ready by Monday.

This is too important to act in a hurry.

We want to go back to work on Monday.

But we have to get it guaranteed

in black and white.

- You will have it in writing.

- "Will have it" isn't the same as having it.

- But we have signed some things...

- Yes, Prime Minister.

That's why I think we're halfway there.

But since we have those signatures...

Of course, but there are still many

unresolved issues.

I have one more proposal to discuss.

As we're really making progress here,

I ask that you do something to stop

the arrests of opposition activists.

Mainly in Warsaw, where many

KOR members have been imprisoned.

I propose we sign a draft

of this press release.

I propose that we stop here.

But please bear in mind

the issue of those arrests.

We've established a good

working relationship.

The arrests are the only thing that stops

us from closing the deal by Monday.

GDANSK:

31 AUGUST, 1980

Lech, Lech, Lech!

We now have independent

trade unions.

We have the right to strike.

And other rights

will be established soon.

Intercollegiate Strike Committee

Demands

Please remember the people

on this side are really tired.

They want to go home - which I know

will probably boost birth statistics...

What about the prisoners?

All of them are getting out.

I have it all on in writing here.

We have been fighting together

and I haven't thanked you properly.

It hasn't been my fight only.

You have fought, too.

So, let me thank you,

go home now, get some rest, let us

take care of the final arrangements.

Good morning, we're a bit early.

- Good morning.

- It's six forty.

Please come in.

Is this the first time a TV crew

interviews you in bed?

In bed? It's the first time for sure.

What do you think about all this?

Your husband is pretty much a guest here.

He is.

How do you cope with that?

How many children do you have?

We have six kids.

- How old is the oldest?

- 10.

- And the youngest?

- Two months old.

- A baby.

- Right.

Do the neighbors help you out?

In this pan of the building, there are

no neighbors. Only offices.

I don't have time

for neighbors anyway.

You say you're tired,

but I see a smiling face.

I need to cope somehow.

What it this situation lasts longer?

And your husband keeps being only a guest?

- I don't know...

- Will you protest?

For sure.

I feel more and more tired,

and I can hardly manage.

But your husband is fighting

for great things.

A family is a great thing, too.

Don't you think so?

Is it not possible to combine

these two great things?

Maybe, but I don't know...

We might find a way. I'm sure we will.

- Thank you very much. Sorry.

- Good bye.

What have you done?

Look at all that cream!

How long will Walesa last?

If they don't kill me,

if it all works out...

You want a cold calculation?

I can say that from now on

It's a downward slope for me.

Gentle or maybe steep.

I'll explain why.

I wasn't made for peaceful times

and I can't play by everyday rules.

I can't repeat what I did before.

In 1980 and later.

If something goes wrong in Poland,

people will focus their anger on me.

And the people who praise me now

will start throwing stones.

They will forget I was on their side.

Fighting their fight.

If I was greedy, I'd shave off my mustache

and go back to work in the shipyard.

But I won't do it as long as

Solidarity' still wants me.

I know that from now on

the situation will only become harder.

Things will get more complicated.

Eat some sandwiches.

They're over there.

The government hasn't kept

its promises.

We seem to be playing both

chess and checkers on one board.

But it's time to play one game now,

and discuss the future of the nation.

What about wildcat strikes?

Let me eat, gentlemen.

Help yourselves.

They started a strike in central Poland.

Do we support it?

I'm not authorizing anything.

Not reading or signing anything.

Tell them we're sorry for their trouble.

Tell them to go back to work.

We've made you the boss and you back down?

This is bullshit, not a free trade union.

- Are you not authorizing the strike?

- This is what the situation demands.

What we need to do is hit them hard.

And not back down.

No more talking to the communists.

Who should I talk to then?

You? We've talked enough.

The Americans don't want to talk.

What would you have me do?

- I'm the one risking everything.

- What about my leg?

Let them give it back to me!

Half a million troops,

100,000 militia men.

You've convinced me. Take your crutches.

Let's go arrest Brezhnev.

- May I have more scrambled eggs?

- You like them?

- Sure! Your wife makes great eggs.

- Danuta, could you fix some more?

What else?

This is not a way to live.

The door is open day and night.

People go in and out.

Good bye, thank you for coming.

Look at the time, gentlemen.

Go on. Good bye.

People coming in like

they own the place!

The neighbor picks Walesa over the cops

when her drunk husband misbehaves.

Lech! You have your own family.

You have kids. Remember?

Bogdan was sent to the principals office.

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