In August, 1980, workers at the Gdansk shipyard went on strike. Their main demand, free trade unions, was unprecedented in a country where communist party supremacy did not allow the existence of any independent organizations. Lech Walesa, a wily 37-year-old electrician, was the chief negotiator for the workers, who avoided the mistakes of earlier strikes by maintaining strict nonviolent discipline—and by occupying their shipyard, to deter a violent crackdown by authorities. The strike quickly spread to factories and workers throughout the country, magnifying their leverage. Their persistence paid off as government granted most of their demands. A new union was born, named "Solidarity." A year and a half later, the government imposed martial law and banned the union. It continued its work underground until 1989, when the communist government asked Lech Walesa’s help to settle a new wave of strikes and unrest. Solidarity re-emerged as a revitalized political force, and won decisively in Poland’s first free parliamentary elections in 60 years, taking power as the ruling party. (31 minutes)