In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Lip watches factory in Besancon, eastern France, began to experience financial problems. After management tried to shut the site down, workers went on strike and occupied the site in 1973, before running the factory themselves. 50 years on, prominent figures in the movement remember the unprecedented social conflict. "I think we made an extraordinary mark on labour history," says Roland Vittot, a former unionist and Lip worker. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES