Original subtitles

The strike at the Copenhagen Shipyard.

The Employers' Association has brought the matter before the industrial courts.

About 2500 workers and 500 office employees are on strike

because of attempts to secure an order of 4 military vessels from a European country.

Director Sten Grønbech has insisted

that strike action should be avoided during the period of the contract

and proposed that pay increases be held at 4% per annum.

The workers have refused to accept this.

What is the background for your securing the order?

We are still negotiating the terms of the contract.

Comrades! We call upon all Danish workers to strike.

Grønbech is curbing our rights by forbidding us to strike.

Due to stagnation in world trade and the re-opening of the Suez Canal

which means a shortening of shipping routes, fewer ships are being built.

Shop stewards at Copenhagen Shipyard and union representatives from other factories

have set up a General Strike Committee which is working on spreading the strike.

"Denmark is not going to supply arms to the EEC army,"

as one of the leaders said to TV-News.

Private yards in Europe are having a tough time

competing with Eastern European shipbuilders.

And the oil producing countries

are now so rich that they can build their own yards and ships.

If they buy ships from Europe at all,

it's generally only used, second-hand ships.

These factors have led to a crisis in European ship-building.

I regret to say that our order book is empty.

Strikes are not just a Danish phenomenon.

The postal strike in Britain

is in its 7th day

and yesterday the French railwaymen carried out partial strikes

at all main traffic termini in the country.

FIRST DAY During previous strikes

we have lacked information.

We have decided that you should try

to get the correct information as the situation develops.

What do you have to say, May-Britt?

Tina, who works in the tobacco factory,

told me about what was going on over there.

I called a meeting with my colleagues

and now we've come out on strike too.

- All of you? - Yes.

Labour Minister Eric Berg, who has been silent up to now

today had the following comment.

Mr. Minister, you yourself are a former union man.

What's your opinion of the situation?

Should we manufacture armaments for a foreign country?

Danish workers have always done so

in accordance with union instructions.

Why should we take such matters under consideration now?

Maybe they were called warships in old Danish.

The situation is this:

we are negotiating and, if we get the order,

we'll build the ships.

Whether you call them warships or military vessels

to me doesn't seem to be relevant.

What type of ship will it be?

We have no comment to make at this point.

Threats of sackings and the closing down of the yard!

We will not accept that unemployment be used

as a threat to people who put in honest day's work.

A joint European defence system is the main subject

at the 5th meeting of EEC defence ministers.

Mr. Minister, what is the aim of this EEC meeting?

The aim, as you very well know, is two-fold.

We want co-operation in our joint defence effort

at a time when the situation looks none too pleasant

and we want to get the economy on the move again.

What about some concrete information?

Is there something else special about these boats over and above the high pressure?

They are much smaller than what we normally build.

They are not more than 130 metres long.

The ships we normally build are 250 metres long.

Are the boats to be delivered to another EEC country?

For competitive reasons I cannot name the country now.

Were there consultations with the government?

None whatsoever. The shipyard's own negotiators

have been trying to land the order.

Comrades! Listen, please!

The situation is critical.

We have come to assist the strike committee's planning.

We must act quickly, otherwise we've had it.

Confusion seems to reign here.

We've got plans from the Frederikshavn district.

In Aalborg there have been discussions about the line of action.

Let's try to coordinate our efforts!

We have asked representatives of the TUC

and the Employers' Association to comment on the fact

that Danish industry is about to get military orders from abroad.

We have passed the matter on to the Industrial Courts

as the strike is illegal.

- Is it a breach of contract? - Yes, an open breach of contract.

Expressions of sympathy and funds

are streaming into Grundtvig's Hus

where the strike committee has set up headquarters.

We still lack contact with concerns like Philips and SAS

and nothing seems to have happened there as yet.

We're expecting a call from them any minute though.

I am in contact with women shop stewards in Aalborg

as well as over in Jutland.

I was working in a tobacco factory over there

but we've stopped now.

I'm in contact with the Eva factories in Skive,

the Danish Cleaning Company, B&0,

and Thrige Titan in both Odense and Aalborg.

In Aalborg they have gone home. In Odense they are still discussing.

At the Superfoss shipping company the workers have walked out.

The workers at the Grindsted Chemical Works

have collected 750 kroner, which they'll send to us.

The Employers' Association's legal advisor.

The strike must be declared illegal.

It's a breach of the agreement we signed with the workers.

We hope that the TUC will respect this

and see to it that people get back to work.

Greetings from members of the Metal Workers' Union

out at the TV-Centre.

Do we want them to black out this evening's programme?

It's obvious that the strike is illegal.

It has now been brought before the industrial courts.

We shouldn't shut down the TV.

We should keep people informed about what's going on.

I quite agree.

But, the way TV has covered the strike,

will people know what it is all about?

All we hear on TV is what the employers and the TUC

think about the strike.

Our reasons have never got out.

We from the TUC cannot appeal

strongly enough to the workers to go back to work immediately.

Who is responsible?

The usual handful

of workers are trying

to cause dissension on the factory floors.

If you ask me they are leftist extremists

but that's a term I'd rather not use.

Cuts have been introduced too

in government social aid and training programmes.

At the same time state subsidies and grants

have been dished out to the employers.

Does this mean that the TUC

supports communist-type conditions?

Our policy is clearly democratic.

We have no intention of moving towards a communist system.

It's democratic to sell the workers out for war machinery?

The TUC has sold the workers out! No more, no less!

Does this mean that you're going to end your strike?

No! Not at all.

The employers, the government, the top management of the TUC

time after time reach agreements between themselves.

Down with the TUC! Out with the TUC!

At Copenhagen Shipyard some social democrat workers

and others to the right of the social democrats

want to start negotiations with the management

in order to avoid a strike.

The people we send out should urge others

who consider a strike to look at its consequences.

They have rents to pay. They have children.

That costs a lot.

We don't want them to reproach us afterwards

for getting them involved in a massive conflict

without them being aware of the consequences.

Let's discuss the matter.

We don't just want comrades without children to strike.

But the situation is surely such that

any work we might refuse to carry

other yards throughout Europe would gladly take on.

We could get in touch with these yards.

I've been unemployed for a couple of years.

I've learnt not to give in.

These families with children,

will they be better off if we call off the strike?

Is the subject of this meeting preparations for an EEC army?

There are no plans to form any EEC army.

Our plans are aimed at strengthening our joint defence efforts.

Here you see him come out

at 8:30 am.

I timed how long it took him to go over to his car.

How long did it take?

25 seconds.

Tomorrow the EEC meeting starts, a preliminary military meeting.

And all this bother is about the fact

that war vessels are going to be built at Copenhagen Shipyard.

Let me just tell you a thing or two.

Those ships are for France.

They'll be assembled in Cherbourg.

Assembled in Cherbourg but built here?

What can they do that we can't?

Do you know the yard?

How should I know?

There's a naval base in Cherbourg.

Comrades! If we don't take action now

it's going to be like the thirties all over again.

Could the EEC meeting perhaps not be seen as a provocation

against the workers who are on strike?

The meeting was planned a month and a half ago.

It has got nothing to do

with the present situation.

Our mates at the yard say it's going to be U-boats.

I don't know if it's true.

It hasn't been confirmed.

What other rumours are going about?

- What's your comment to that? - It's still just guessing.

Guesswork. But you know that there's seldom smoke...

Do you ever consider what the ships might be used for?

As I said before, it's a question of producing a product,

helping the unemployment situation and the firm.

What the customer uses the product for, that's his business.

- Not yours? - No.

According to the Morning News, the order

which Copenhagen Shipyard is negotiating

is for four atomic-powered submarines.

The U-boats are 128 metres long

and can carry 16 ballistic missiles.

SECOND DAY with a range of 3,000 kilometres.

The missiles can carry atomic warheads.

Comrades! Hold it a minute.

Now we have proof that the order is for U-boats.

Let's use this fact in the development of a general strike.

The following have come out on strike

in sympathy with our cause: the Nordic Cable Company.

Monberg and Thorsen, the Seaman's Union,

the petrol drivers, the Danish Industrial Syndicate

and our comrades at F. L. Schmidt.

Expressions of sympathy are streaming in.

We've just received a message from the shipyard workers

at Blom & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg.

Here's a rough translation:

"Keep up the good fight! We sympathize with your struggle."

Here's good news too!

Our comrades in Funen have risen to support us!

"We're trying to get work stopped.

Accept our sympathy for your action."

Signed Hans Fälster, shop steward.

He leaves at 8:15 now.

Yesterday the workers at Thrige Titan laid down their tools.

The total number of workers on strike is now 87,000.

It's a great honour and pleasure...

Prime Minister Egon Clausen welcomed

the Defence Minister and his staff.

We are here to ensure that Europe becomes independent

also when it comes to defence matters.

We'll carry out our efforts in keeping with the Rome Treaty

and in understanding with our NATO allies.

Let's get down to work!

I'll now call upon my Market Minister

to open proceedings.

I would like to put a question to the French Defence Minister.

Mr. Minister. Can you give us any information

about the U-boats the French Navy has ordered?

What type are they? Will they carry atomic weapons?

I know nothing about what has happened as regards the order.

I know that it has caused anxiety in Denmark.

However I can confirm that France has sought offers from foreign contractors.

Our yards are fully employed. So it is natural for France

to approach her European allies in order to obtain her defence needs.

Is France prepared to join a European army?

That's a rather sensitive issue.

Are we going to have atomic explosives on Danish territory?

That is a political question.

It is correct that a Danish shipyard is negotiating a contract for the building

of hulls for 4 atomic U-boats?

The Danish government has nothing to do with this.

It has been kept informed, though.

Will Denmark have to stock nuclear fuel and atomic explosives?

No.

What about atomic weapons?

No.

The Danish Parliament decides how the defence will be armed

and there's no new defence bill coming up.

It would be hypocritical to build U-boats

and let them be used by others, washing our hands.

It's one way of getting more work, you say.

There are plenty of orders

from the East European countries and China.

Why do we then have to build warships?

Doesn't it matter to you?

That's not what it's all about.

The thing is to get people out at the factories to stand up

and say, "We won't tolerate this situation!"

We're in the same situation we've been in for years now.

The socialist parties start squabbling.

We must show solidarity with each other

and create unity within the labour movement.

How can you as social democrats go on

just looking at this betrayal?

In '72 they promised us that there'd never be an EEC army.

What have we got? An EEC army!

And they require us to produce weaponry for it!

France is not giving up its nuclear deterrent.

France wants to increase its nuclear weaponry

whilst it works for a closer defence alliance.

Aren't you disturbed by this nuclear stock-piling

within common market countries?

I'm worried about the situation we're in at the moment.

I'm not worried about the future.

Germany has no ambition to become a nuclear power.

But we realize that you can't defend Europe

with toy guns or conventional weapons.

It is the right of the employers

to administer and share out work.

The government advises the workers

not to dispute this right.

Then each of the U-boats will have a nuclear capability

96 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb?

You'd better ask at Cherbourg.

As I said on TV-News last night,

we're only going to make the hulls.

What fittings the customer chooses to put in

is his business and responsibility.

I think I know now how this thing works.

How powerful is the transmitter?

With the right aerial a range of 3 kilometres.

We could have a bit of bother with that aerial.

Maybe we could fix it to a car.

The opposition requested the Labour Minister to stop the strike.

Mogens Eriksen MP. For the Progress Party.

The Minister has shown a total lack of imagination.

He runs the Ministry as if it were

a sub-section of the Coach and Body Builder's Union.

It's about time he realized

that he is about to have a general strike on this hands.

As he may recall from his reading of Marx,

general strikes are a means of

overthrowing the established order.

It was said that Denmark would not get nuclear weapons.

How do you react to the German minister's reply?

All that was said was that the procuration of nuclear weapons

was a decision that would be made by parliament.

Is such a decision forthcoming?

Hardly.

Minister, what results were achieved?

The meeting was the first of a series.

Nothing worth mentioning?

Each delegation has presented its point of view of the problems.

That's the answer one always gets.

What about some facts?

That's Broadcasting House.

Here's the main entrance.

One of us goes in, turns to the right,

goes up to the lift to the 4th floor

and into the control room where we place a time bomb.

There's a programme on TV about the EEC conference.

That could be interesting.

A lot of things seem to start at the same time.

I want to hear the prime minister again.

I'm afraid it's going to be more underhand than it is already.

What do you mean?

He'll probably tell us to unite and pull together.

I'm afraid that's the sort of crap we're going to hear.

We should record some tapes.

And we can connect them directly to the transmitter

and let them run for 10 minutes before being detected.

Then it's away and it's fast.

How are you getting on as a woman shop steward?

It's difficult for me to say.

Maybe I have achieved a few good results.

We've worked out a new bonus system. I think it's OK.

We did that long ago, though.

The employers take advantage of the fact that there are so many unemployed around.

They won't negotiate on anything.

It's like hitting your head against a wall.

And your comrades get dissatisfied

because you've failed to achieve anything.

THIRD DAY

The following demands will have to be met before I am released.

A stop to all production of nuclear U-boats in Denmark.

No atomic power stations.

Immediate closing of the EEC meeting.

A new referendum in Denmark on membership of the EEC.

Denmark's withdrawal from NATO.

Fulfillment of the strikers' demands.

The reading of this message to the Danish people

in conjunction with this videotape

should take place between 8 pm and 10 pm within 48 hours.

As you see, we find ourselves in a serious situation.

I ask every one of you to use all possible means

to clear up this unfortunate business.

Before we part, I'd like a short report.

We have put all the means at our disposal into use.

We are searching for the vehicle all over Copenhagen.

We have taken the necessary measures at airports,

on ferries and main roads.

We are in a state of complete emergency now.

We are pretty sure that they are still on Zealand.

Thank you.

My friend and colleague, Jørgen Falk,

Economic and Foreign Minister, was kidnapped this morning

by a group of unknown persons.

A person delivered a videotape.

Could there be any connection between the strikers and this?

Not as far as we can see.

- Have you called in foreign experts? - That shouldn't be necessary.

What will you do to protect the other delegates?

All necessary precautions.

- What does that mean? - I can't tell you now.

- Has Jørgen Falk's car been found? - Not yet.

Why do you think that we're going to get nuclear weapons?

It says so in the papers.

Copenhagen Shipyard is going to build 4 U-boats for the French.

You don't seem very well informed.

We hope to build the hulls.

They have got nothing to do with nuclear charges.

What you say is just as hollow as the bloody hulls.

Atomic explosives will be housed in them. That's a fact.

That doesn't mean that Denmark's going to have nuclear weapons.

Is it our job to make U-boats which are to be loaded with nuclear explosives?

Stop that bullshit now.

What is the government's reaction?

We haven't come to a decision about the kidnappers' demands.

I'm relieved to hear that my colleague is still alive.

General strike!

We say NO to Egon Clausen!

NO to the TUC, which claims to want to protect our jobs!

Down with the TUC! Out with the TUC!

What can we do to political guerillas?

Why not call them terrorists? They should be eliminated.

All available men have been sent in

and the Commissioner of Police has taken command of the operation.

We are absolutely sure that they are still here on Zealand,

more precisely, in Copenhagen.

Do you believe in a hard-line policy against this 'non-violent' guerilla group?

Non-violent terrorists? Rubbish!

They kidnap a man by violence

and call themselves non-violent.

You can't negotiate with people like that.

We got our road blocks up so quickly that they couldn't make a getaway.

Go out into the streets!

Follow the call! Stop work!

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Several politicians have hinted

that there may be a connection between this affair and the strike.

We have no proof of any connection yet.

I'd like to add that it is strange that the terrorist group

appears when we're having a massive nationwide strike.

We've stopped at a road block near Charlottenlund Fort.

Here's an example of fascism

which is so much part of the democratic system.

Cars are stopped, people dragged out

and 'relevant' questions are asked.

Everything seems to be relevant to the security of the State.

Will you call in reinforcements from other European police forces?

Our local knowledge is so much superior

that they couldn't be of much help.

Any plans of an EEC anti-terrorist squad?

Not in the present situation.

What do you think you are living in now?

A dirty and stinking basement.

What I mean is, do you live in a democracy?

It's the nearest one can get to it.

Who makes the decisions?

The voters.

What if a firm has to close down?

Who makes the decision in that case?

Is it the workers?

It's difficult to discuss with you.

Who decides whether or not a firm has to be closed down?

The owners, of course.

As a private individual, you must have some thoughts

about the order you're acquiring.

You've come to interview me as a director of the firm. Right?

Do you think so?

Of course I do. It is in my capacity as director

that I'm negotiating this deal.

First and foremost,

earth to earth rockets

and, furthermore, ballistic rockets for submarines.

We all have the right to work which does not stink of the war industry!

What's so bloody funny, then?

You.

You can't see me. What are you smiling at?

I've got to know you, a 'non-violent' terrorist.

A non-violent terrorist?

Non-violence... non-violence.

Approximately 5 to 500 kilotons.

Is this the situation you put him in?

Either to produce weapons to destroy other people

or to end up unemployed. Is that what you're laughing about?

Yes, that's correct.

The opening of the EEC defence meeting in Copenhagen

and the news of the conjectured order for nuclear submarines

are seen as being linked together in many press reports.

The Washington Post: "It must be obvious for everyone now

to see the outline of a new Europe forming,

a power block which will be defended by an EEC army,

a nuclear deterrent provided by France and Britain,

and financed by the German Mark."

The Neue Zuricher Zeit comments:

"By smuggling in A-weapons under cover of a supranational umbrella,

the Germans hope to get their fingers near to the Atomic button."

Clausen, quote: "We're not going."

That's what the newspapers always say.

The Warsaw Pact countries have over 160 Soviet divisions,

comprising 100 motorized, 50 Panzer and 10 airborne divisions.

100 are ready for action

and the rest can be mobilized within a few weeks.

Do you believe that arming the police to the teeth is enough?

It's an effective deterrent.

We've got them completely surrounded.

The weather forecast.

Snow can be expected in the east of the country

with sunny intervals.

Maximum temperatures around freezing point.

In tomorrow morning's edition we're going to run a front page story

on the link between the kidnappers and the leaders of the strike.

BT and Ekstrabladet ran something today. Not very good, though.

We can do better if we go a bit deeper into the story.

Gorm, you get hold of the Minister of Justice

and try and get a word with him and the Chief of Police.

Martin, you go for the Minister of Labour,

the chairman of the TUC and those from the strike committee.

Jesus! They must have some comment or other.

Find out what connection there is between the two incidents.

It's obvious that there's a connection.

- Obvious to whom? - To me, at any rate.

The terrorists appear to be well financed.

They've got lots of cash, even video equipment.

That sort of equipment doesn't just fall out of trees.

That's rubbish.

I'm damned if I can see any link.

There must be a connection.

They're all fighting for the same cause.

I'm not saying that the leaders of the strike

actually sent the terrorists over to kidnap Falk.

All I'm saying is there is a connection

between these terrorists and the people behind the strike.

It would be odd if there wasn't.

We demand more police,

assisted by the army and foreign experts in fighting terrorists.

This intolerable situation must be brought to an end. Pronto!

What's this, then?

The ministry on Slotsholmen.

The Ministry Of Labour.

Why should we join in the bourgeois hypocrisy

about Jørgen Falk and his family?

Think of all the workers that have been killed at work.

The Prime Minister did not say a word of condolence then,

nor did he mention their families or speak of democracy.

The difference between the strike committee and the terrorists

is that we are trying to organize a mass action

while they perform individual actions.

They do not add strength to the mass action

nor to the labour movement.

They reduce the ordinary striker to an onlooker.

Martin was very upset today.

He'd been asked to write an article

on the connection between the strike and the kidnapping.

I know. He's been talking to us about it. It's crazy.

It does tend to confuse the whole issue.

It makes people disassociate with the strike.

It's the wrong way to deal with the problem.

FOURTH DAY

We're now outside Broadcasting House.

There's police all over the place,

just like there were near the TV transmitter and the TV centre.

It's quite clear that those in power

want to protect the media

which are their most effective repressive means.

We've just received more details.

To date the group has been fairly reasonable, not too extremist.

But we've now received a list

of 42 targets in Copenhagen

which they threaten to attack, if they don't get it their own way.

They provide the daily.

There's the lack of real information about, for instance,

the economic crisis and the armament industry.

We've given the government a list of places

that we may carry out actions against.

There are another 23 targets

that we haven't told them we're interested in.

We intend to spread the police force

so that it will be difficult for those in power

to quash the 'illegal' strike.

It is extremely disturbing to see on TV

the way in which the Danish police

are making raids on so-called left-wing organizations...

Fascists! Fascists!

The pretext being that they expect to find partisans

or people who sympathize with the kidnappers.

We are now in the Svanemøllevej quarter.

Four men live here with their families.

They are the managing director of the Private Bank,

the German Ambassador, the Belgian military attaché

and the director general of IBM.

We have informed the government

that we plan to stage various actions against these men.

Our threats have succeeded in bringing oppression up to the surface.

The police have taken up position outside all the places

where POWER is concentrated.

GO OUT AND HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT THEM.

What is the government going to do to restore peace and quiet and order?

We are working very hard to solve the problem.

I haven't been out of my clothes for 48 hours.

The same goes for many of my colleagues.

Is it sufficient to just guard these potential targets?

These targets are the so-called group A and group B lists.

Are all the others going to be left alone?

They're shitting in their pants about what the media might say

about the rotten state of society. They concentrate on us,

call us terrorists, men of violence, anarchists and all that.

Instead of the strike which is a much greater threat.

They're trying to remove attention from the terror and violence they practise every day.

RED FRONT! RED FRONT!

The ordinary policeman allows himself

to be ordered to carry out raids

in private homes and in the offices of political parties.

It's frightening to see

the police arresting the staff of the Danish Communist Party's office

and driving off with the archives and card indexes of members.

Cowardly dogs!

We call upon everyone, including our comrades in the police force.

Stop work!

STRIKE!

Commissioner of Police, during the search

one has observed occurrences of police raids on left-wing organizations.

It appears there have not been similar raids on

so-called right-wing organizations.

Why are the police so sure that the kidnappers must be leftist?

We are not so sure.

But these groups are well informed on the whole situation.

So I feel that it is reasonable that we investigate them.

Are you sure about that?

You only have to read their articles.

Right-wing publications also have a rather twisted view of things,

wouldn't you say?

They haven't had the same detail knowledge. That's a fact.

So that justifies these encroachments on your part

against left-wing organizations?

The documents will be returned when we have gone through them.

But they supply information which may be used later on.

That's not really important.

The situation at present is critical.

We have to follow every clue.

We've experienced the arrest of the democratic freedom of speech

reminiscent of the West German 'Berufsverbot'.

Could we see your search warrant?

We have a tradition for solving problems in a democratic way.

We are proud that we have a democratic form of government.

This system is now threatened by a group that wants to dictate

its extremist opinions to the majority.

We must protect our society against forcible encroachments.

We ask for understanding and cooperation with the police and the army.

In their efforts to protect the citizens and eliminate the kidnappers.

Who has decided not to inform the public

about the strikers' demands?

Who has decided that they only hear about us instead?

You just said that a communiqué about our action

instead of the demands of the strikers

would be sent out to the press in every country.

As a member of a social democratic government,

you should protect the interests of the workers

and you don't tell anyone about their action.

The fact that you've got me here is, journalistically-speaking...

Journalistically? It's the lackeys of capitalism who control the press

and the media and pay for your swindles.

FIFTH DAY

We're going to be busy again today.

Martin is here because he's dissatisfied with the placing of his article.

We'll discuss this issue and I've asked Gorm to be present too.

Martin, tell us briefly what is bothering you.

I must have misunderstood what we talked about yesterday.

I've checked to see if there's a connection

between the workers and their strike and the kidnappers.

I discovered that there was no connection.

It wasn't much of a story,

so it was hidden away on page 8 with the headline,

"STRIKE LEADERS: WE'RE NOT CONNECTED WITH THE KIDNAPPERS"

My piece on the strike is tucked away in the middle of the paper

whilst the connection you want to establish

is given prime space on the front page.

What are we supposed to do, then?

The police happen to have a theory.

Do we hide it along with the obituaries or do we put it on the front page?

Is it right to print mere theories?

I'm not criticizing your work, Gorm.

Just because the police say there's a connection,

I suppose it has to be true, eh?

Damn bourgeois paper!

We haven't invented this connection theory out of the blue.

The article was the combined work of the entire editorial staff.

A lot of work has been put into it.

We think there's reason to believe the theory

but we clearly present it as a theory only.

Surely you know how people read these things.

They see the headline and it's an established fact.

It means a lot for the strikers that people know

that they are not linked with the terrorist group.

You're trying to reduce the strike movement to nothing.

Maybe that's your political aim! Then say so!

Come on! Come on!

Maybe you should concentrate more on the paper

and think less of the strike committee.

We've seen how difficult it can be for our democratic system

to cope with acts of violence directed against it.

Were we caught napping?

What can the police do about the situation?

These are some of the questions we hope to get into with.

Minister of Justice Keld Østergaard

and his main critic, Mogens Eriksen.

The opposition has described the police as, quote,

"weak, divided and confused".

First of all, the police were in no way caught napping.

The police and the secret service were prepared to face

such events as we now have on our hands.

They have undergone intensive training.

They are specialists in the use of weapons.

They're specialists in close combat.

And they were in a state of complete readiness.

Working conditions are so bad out there.

It's bloody cold. Things like gates standing open all the time.

There's not much you can do about it.

How do you mean?

We can complain about it, take the problems up at meetings

but it's like hitting your head against a brick wall.

You don't get anywhere.

I reckon it's the same everywhere.

It's just like going up and asking for better pay.

You might as well not bother.

I think the employers take advantage of unemployment.

They use it to keep us down.

I hope people will wake up one day and start protesting.

We can start with the head.

Not in the head, nor in the larynx, and not in the collarbone.

We're not far away from the Amager Power Station.

The place is crawling

with police and soldiers

just like at the Svanemølle and H.C. Ørsted power stations.

This probably means that they have spread their forces

or maybe the Civil Defence has been called in.

The CD has two units trained to deal with 5th columnists.

They've had training from the police and the army.

They're experts in guerilla warfare.

They can be put in against tanks, water cannons,

mortars and machine guns.

The Danish Constitution states that the CD can only be mobilized

if Denmark is invaded by a foreign power.

I wouldn't be surprised if they've managed to find a way out.

Anyway they can get around it by saying,

"The terrorists are thought to be German."

Careful.

They're a bloody tough bunch.

The Commissioner calls them 'the hooligans'.

Fire!

You've cleared the way.

You're so bloody naive, you are.

Do you really believe that a group like ours could cause that to happen?

The watch at all border checkpoints has been intensified.

All passengers leaving Kastrup Airport have their luggage checked

and must give an account of the purpose of their travel.

Armed German frontier guards are patrolling the border.

I don't know what's going on.

The Germans seem to be very busy, keeping an eye on developments.

Maybe they're frightened that the government falls.

Anyway, we're keeping an eye on them, here.

"The defence ministers of the EEC countries are telling the press and the TV been more serious"

that "the Red Threat has never"

but we're not buying into that.

Every time the politicians want new appropriations

they get the intelligence service to write frightening reports

about mysterious flights over Danish territory

or Russian trawler activity in the Baltic.

When they've got the people sufficiently scared

the new defence appropriations get passed.

But this time it is not a question of a few million more.

It's an EEC army they want

equipped with nuclear weapons and financed by the Germans.

Who'll thus get a say as to how and when atomic weapons are used.

We say no to atomic power stations but things go on the same.

It's time we did something.

It'll be too late if a catastrophe takes place killing thousands.

The generals in the background are preparing for an atomic war.

Say NO to an EEC army. Protest against the EEC meeting.

Come out and strike in sympathy with the workers at Copenhagen Shipyard.

We have to get our newspaper out come what may.

I'm getting a bit peeved. We should be doing a whole lot of other work.

The TUC is holding a press conference today.

Will you be covering it, Martin?

I don't know. It's clearly something we have to look into.

There are principles involved which I would like to discuss.

Anyway, I'm not going. There's no story to get out of the TUC.

They just say what suits them about the strike.

There's another firm out there. What the hell's it called?

Radiometer. Have you heard anything about the reaction out there?

No, not a word. They've sent us nothing.

No reaction, one way or the other.

You've gotta believe me. I was at the TUC lunch.

We got a hell of a lot to eat and drink.

I was sitting next to Poul Dalgaard at one point.

What he said in his beery state was

that they were going to chuck out

51 of the worst union shop stewards and troublemakers.

They'll be excluded and put on the blacklist.

What is your comment to the article in The Morning News?

There has been no talk about the possible blacklisting

or excluding of strikers.

If the article is false, are you going to sue?

Our legal consultants are looking into the matter.

Are you going to sue?

No comment.

- You don't deny it, though? - No.

Poul Dalgaard.

The Danish Employers' Association and the TUC

have no plan to blacklist the workers.

Do you intend to sue the newspaper?

The matter has been put in the hands of the TUC's legal advisers.

The result will be announced in the press.

The TUC is really putting the pressure on now

and so is the union movement.

We must discuss what we're going to say

in our statement at tomorrow's demonstration.

We must make demands as regards the EEC and NATO

and demand things like the nationalization

of the shipbuilding industry, the building industry,

insurance companies and banks.

We must get a statement ready by tomorrow.

But there's something else of importance.

We must ensure that this demonstration takes place peacefully.

We must avoid provocations, at all costs.

Just a minute.

SIXTH DAY I've just heard

that the government intends to resign

if the situation is not brought under control quickly.

That's what they should do.

Do you think so?

Yes, I think so.

They must make up their minds about what they're going to do.

It is a labour government.

They might just as well say where they stand.

It's a very serious business.

How are we going to continue?

Let's go back to the yard and take a vote on the issue

after we've all discussed the problem.

Go back to your respective factories and places of work,

hold meetings and let's find out if we should continue.

The fact that the government wants to resign

is another pressure on us.

I can't remain on the strike commission

if the government intends to resign.

That's class treason.

Call it what you want.

I'm going back to my fellow workers

to discuss the situation.

Will you go back to work if the government resigns?

I'll wait to see how the demonstration goes,

whether it is attended by 700 or 7,000 or even 100,000.

Listen, we've been responsible for getting more than 80,000 out on strike

and now you want to drop the whole thing

because the government threatens to resign.

It's not bloody fair.

That's no way to treat the 80,000 who are still out on strike.

I agree that we should show a united front.

I'd like to hear what Maj-Britt has to say about all this.

I've made up my mind to stay here and fight on.

I think it's vital that we stick together.

There's been too much chit-chat and not enough working together.

I intend to call upon my girls to stick it out.

It's vital that the women take part in this action.

There's only one thing to do: let the police shoot first.

Your work in connection with the strike

must help to make you more aware.

Yes. In the smaller factories most women are a bit older

and come from the country. They're not really aware of things.

Sometimes it's difficult to get them to understand

that this is really a serious matter,

that they shouldn't accept everything in order to keep their jobs.

They don't dare say anything,

don't dare to protest for fear of getting kicked out.

And the employer rubs his hands with joy.

SEVENTH DAY

SEVENTH DAY Here you see the place

which we've had under observation.

You'll notice that our people are strategically placed

to spy on the place.

- Is that one of them there? - Yes.

I'm 98% sure this is the place we should concentrate on.

Why?

There's such a lot of activity going on in this area.

So you intend to go into action there?

Yes.

Of course, some politicians profit from it personally

but most feel that they are doing a useful job

which, in fact, they are.

What useful service were you performing?

One of my high hopes was

that I could help to stop the swing towards the right

which began in the late 60's.

Comrades. We're assembled here today to protest

against the gross violations of our contracts

and our right to strike

which Copenhagen Shipyard is trying to carry out.

Mr. Grønbech, what do you think

about the possible exclusion of union leaders?

I think you ought to ask Poul Dalgaard, the chairman of the TUC.

It's your own people who'll get kicked out, isn't it?

I have no comment to make.

The situation is grotesque.

I'm trying to save the factory and the jobs of 4,000 men.

But I have my own family to think of.

So I've accepted an offer of police protection.

To what extent? You'd better ask the police.

You can see the police all around you.

Throughout the course of history

the social democratic party and the TUC

and the unions and confederations of workers

have frequently succeeded in spying on, excluding and

persecuting politically active workers.

They have done this with the assistance

of their own intelligence organizations

as well as bourgeois 'plumber groups' of the Watergate variety.

We're back in the same old situation.

And once again Poul Dalgaard of the TUC and the employers

threaten to exclude the strike leaders

who are determined to defend the workers' right to strike

and the freedom to produce those products which are necessary.

A state of affairs which we know only too well

from the fascist dictatorships.

It must stop now.

No weapons, Mr. Grønbech!

We demand true democratic progress,

a democracy which is against monopolies

and for the working class.

Comrades. Off we go to Christiansborg.

Let's shout out our demands so loud

that it sinks into the heads of those thick-headed politicians.

What do you propose?

The government should stand down and let others take over.

- Are you thinking of yourself? - Why not?

As far back as I can remember

the government has been social democratic.

They filled us with a lot of crap about freedom and self-realization.

But the whole thing is just a clever plot

to get people to stay behind their machines

and then home to watch telly in the evening.

Venice has been hit by a dustman's strike

which is threatening the city's prestige as a tourist attraction.

The social democrats have always practised co-operation.

The workers have got no means of vetoing

the production, for instance, of arms.

The Social Democrats are sitting on the unions and the employers.

This is class co-operation and death to the individual.

The strikers' general staff today staged a demonstration

followed by a procession to Christiansborg.

During the procession 700 demonstrators were arrested

and the police have had to set up temporary police stations

in schools and institutions.

The government has been criticized

for putting armed police and soldiers on to the streets.

I suppose that some people faint at the sight.

All I can say is, "Let them faint."

Law and order is more important

than the feelings of a few sensitive people

who can't stand the sight of our society defending itself.

War production is increasing.

I can't bear seeing our world go down like this.

We'll have to get people to rise up.

These are the measures we now have to adopt.

I can't tolerate seeing it all about to be blown up.

First the workers make the weapons.

Then they have to shoot each other

with the guns they have produced. I refuse to be part of it.

I would like to answer

the charges made by the Left Socialists and the Socialist People's Party.

It is true that prior notification of the demonstration

was given in proper time.

But, as everyone knows,

a group of terrorists is at large,

a group which has taken a member of this esteemed House hostage.

This problem is not limited to Denmark.

We're seeing the collapse of democracy in the Western world.

By definition democracy is obliged

to allow the dictatorship of the rich.

There's no democratic way of fighting it.

We have to awaken people.

Maybe the ideals we're fighting for will not be popular

because of the methods we have to adopt.

But, in the long run, I think we'll win.

70 to 100 demonstrators have been brought into hospital

because of the wounds they suffered

when the police tried to break up the demonstration.

A large number are still under arrest.

It is vital for the government that things cool down a bit.

We'll ask the police to see to that.

Wouldn't it be an idea if the politicians helped to calm.

EIGHTH DAY the people down?

EIGHTH DAY

EIGHTH DAY We've just seen the final proof

that there's a connection between the strikers and the terrorists

whose actions are even more in defiance of the law.

They are fighting for the same cause.

I.e. the collapse of our democratic society.

The workers would not go home

when they were recommended

to call off their demonstration.

They asked for violence and they got it!

Did you hit him?

I was assaulted by several constables.

- Did you push him? - That's a bit difficult when...

- Was there any rioting? - Surely the police should...

That'll be enough.

Let this man be sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment.

We'll have to use tougher methods.

We must equip our police correctly.

If the terrorists have guns,

the police should have machine guns.

If they have machine guns,

then the police should be equipped with, I might almost say, artillery.

Gorm checked with the police

and, of course, they didn't reckon

there had been any brutality on their part.

So my article is unusable. I happened to be there.

Christ. I can't keep working for a paper

which closes its eyes to what is going on.

Our police reporters were there too.

There are clearly differing opinions as to what happened exactly.

Throughout history women have been responsible

for bringing up children and looking after the family.

Men have concerned themselves with the outside world.

We've done our share as women

and believed that the men did their bit.

But they gave us the atomic bomb

and thus the fear that the whole world might blow up.

They gave us industrial production and all its insanities.

They gave us the welfare state but not the right to work.

They gave us the rule of the experts

which divides mankind up into the knows and the don't knows.

We call on all women to take the consequences

of their sense of responsibility.

Break your contact with these men.

Stand together and create the world you want.

We can do it.

There's an extra edition of TV news tonight at 10:45 pm.

And surrounded the kidnappers.

Once more, we repeat...

We ask everyone to leave No. 35.

Come on out now.

Let the minister come out first.

You others follow him with your hands up.

One... two... three...

What I find nearly impossible to bear

and I'm not the only one on the paper who feels this way

is when someone shows feelings about something one has experienced,

something which you really have something to say about

then your article has to be edited, checked and double-checked.

What are you frightened of?

The question is how to get the information out, isn't it?

People are filled with crap.

In his toughest political speech yet,

Mogens Eriksen demanded further tightening

of measures against 'the anti-constitutional elements'.

We must express our opinions, futile though that may be.

We don't have freedom of speech anymore.

We're going to be crushed, don't you think?

Beaten, whipped, hit, struck down.

We've felt it on our bodies.

We must keep a closer check on those who are against the constitution.

The State must be cautious about who it employs.

Many of these subversive elements sit in key positions

and work for the downfall of the established order.

Dear friends, we must prepare a letter

which we must send to every corner of this country,

stressing what pressures we're being subjected to.

We'll write about how police brutality works in this country.

I've had a call from Poul Dalgaard.

He was not in a friendly mood.

They've blacklisted all the workers the TUC don't like

in co-operation with others who want peace and quiet.

What does the labour situation look like now

down at Copenhagen Shipyard?

I feel fairly optimistic.

The fact that the workers have decided to have a meeting...

I see it as a positive development.

Does this mean that they'll take a new vote?

That's the intention.

How do you think the vote's going to go?

Let's wait and see.

I believe that the sensible workers

who want to keep their jobs

will vote for going back to work.

I pronounce the verdict of this court:

The charges against the detained Ewald Jensen are upheld.

We must change the laws to give the police greater powers

to arrest those they suspect

and the unions must intensify their methods

of removing subversive elements from within their own midst.

As the conditions for the application

of paragraph 780, section 1, no. 20 are fulfilled.

Ewald Jensen will be imprisoned for a period of 14 days.

It's no good any more to let extremists and radicals

work in factories and join the unions.

Mr. Justice Minister, yesterday we saw on TV

how the kidnapping affair was brought to an end

by the use of gas shells, etc.

Is this what can be expected in the future?

We have to take the measures we deem necessary.

But there was no real danger.

The kidnappers claimed to be non-violent.

We've heard that song before.

Nevertheless, it ended with murder.

It has been made clear from the start that this was not what they wanted.

Correct. But we must try to maintain law and order.

The media proclaim us to be terrorists.

But who are the terrorists?

They make us unemployed

so they can force us to work in war production

like Hitler, who created work by building autobahns

and keeping armament production booming.

They don't think of the consequences.

In their eyes, it's naive to look ahead,

it's not 'concrete talk' to realize that politics and rearmament

lead us toward self-destruction.

They want to murder us.

Is the strike going to peter out?

That's what the middle-class

and social democratic press try to make it seem like.

It's out of the question.

I expect that it'll become more intensified

with the police beating us and the authorities and the press

trying to gang up on the workers.

At the moment this country is a police state.

Won't tougher police methods bring about greater violence?

I don't think so.

If you're talking about the use of gas shells,

we must control the situation and liberate the hostage

and the use of gas is preferable to other methods

which could be more dangerous.

We've come so far that people can see which side to support,

namely the workers.

Is it 'the revolutionary situation'?

If the authorities go off the rails just once more

we'll have a situation ripe for revolution.

A government which has organized the police to beat the workers

and has caused massive unemployment

now wants the blacklisting

of workers who refuse to work on armaments.

What are your plans now?

At the moment we're able to cut off

oil supplies within 3 hours.

You know what that means.

Following the treatment

I received yesterday

whilst attending a lawful demonstration

I have reconsidered my position.

I can say this now...

I'm continuing with even greater energy than before.

You heard the director of police say

that they had kept to the letter of the law.

I think we should contact our friends at the TV Centre

and take them up on their offer to black out TV.

I just spoke with Martin of the Morning News.

He's lost his job as industrial correspondent.

They've given him an office job.

So we can't use that paper as an outlet.

Martin said, though, that some of his journalist friends

had given the impression they'd help us.

But we must also formulate

the demands of the Danish working class and wage earners,

demands for the nationalization of this industry

which threatens to bring Denmark to the brink of war.

It's not just politics.

It has to do with people and human rights.

Shall our children grow up

EVENINGLAND in a police state like this one?

I've got two kids myself. Are they to grow up in all this?