1.
GV & SV EXTERIOR Mine with stationary pit-head wheel and Polish flag (3 shots)
0.10

2.
LV Mine office building
0.16

3.
SV PAN Fenced-in area (with polythene) where poisonous phials were thrown
0.23

4.
LV ZOOM INTO CU Solidarity flags and strike notices outside building
0.39

5.
CU PULL BACK TO SV INTERIOR Strike leader showing leaflet to mass meeting
1.16

6.
SV PAN & CU Massed miners in hall an on balconies listening to speakers (6 shots)
1.57




Initials BB





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: INTRODUCTION: In Poland, workers at the Sosnowiec coal mine are continuing their underground sit-in.They are protesting at the government's refusal to launch a full investigation into the throwing of a gas-filled container at a crowd of women, children and miners outside the plant.The poison was not dangerous, but caused sickness among at least 69 people who were nearby.

SYNOPSIS: The workers, on strike since October the 27th, have refused to leave the mine site.

Claiming to phials of poisonous gas were deliberately thrown from a black car as it passed the mine, the miners want Polish national television to broadcast a programme explaining the incident.

Recently, the strikers were visited by Mr.Lech Walesa, the leader of Solidarity, the independent trade union movement.The visit was part of his campaign to persuade workers to negotiate with authorities first before taking strike action.

However, the head of the strike committee, Mr.Wojciech Figiel, told a mass meeting of miners they should continue to stand firm and publicise their cause.The strikers have been printing posters and pamphlets demanding a more efficient investigation of the incident by the regional public prosecutor's office in Sosnowiec.The gas has been identified as a basically harmless substance, rather like the type of gas used as fuel for stoves.

Pressure is mounting on the strikers to return to work.First, there's been the call for negotiation from Lech Walesa.Also, the strike comes as the Communist Party Politburo is claiming that continued industrial unrest was damaging not only the national economy, but also the Soviet-block alliance.Talks held recently between Church, Communist Party and Solidarity leaders concluded that Poland needed to embark on a period of reconciliation and national accord.However, the leaders of the Sosnowiec miners told their mass meeting the fight would have to continue until a satisfactory explanation was received.