Film about factory workers who try to make a stand against their oppression. The action takes place in 1966, the first year of recession in West Germany. "Workers who fight against higher rents, who lose and learn their lesson. Workers who are angry about the loss of their employment, who are not successful and draw their conclusions. Workers who organise a strike, who realise their power and start to change their situation - such workers are shown in this film, and it points to the question of why we do not see them on a daily basis. In 1967, during the mining crisis in the Ruhr Area, the machine fitter Alfred Schefczyk is sent to Berlin by the job centre. Here he earns his living as an unskilled labourer. Only after Schefczyk shows his courage during a 'wildcat strike' he meets the approval of his distrustful colleagues. The realistic worker film shaped a whole genre in the 1970s." (Basis Filmverleih)