Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Air To Breathe is a film about a group of militant workers inside the Opel car plant in Bochum, Germany. The group was founded in 1972, initially with the help of revolutionaries from the 1968 movement. For over 40 years, the group fought for better working conditions inside the plant. Over time, their incessant rank-and-file activism made the workers in Bochum the most radical in the entire German metal sector: Opel Bochum saw several wildcat strikes, and a persistent and successful fight for the reduction of daily working time. The group even attempted to build up direct links between different workforces of General Motors in Europe to fight back against the raise to the bottom of wages and working conditions in a situation of worldwide competition for investments amongst GM plants. Their activities culminated in a six days wildcat strike in 2004.

The documentary captures the struggle of 320 unpaid seamen of NEL Lines, one of Greece’s most historic maritime companies, in 2015. With many trapped in the company’s vessels in Drapetsona, a part of the Piraeus port, and away from the spotlight, the camera captures their efforts to receive their wages for 7 months during the most critical times in Greece’s modern history. To this day they have received less than half of the wages owed to them and their case is still before the court of appeal.