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Author Archives: Metro Council

Seattle General Strike 1919

30 Aug

3:46-minute excerpt from Witness to Revolution: The Story of Anna Louis Strong contains original film footage from 1919, the only known footage of the strike. Produced and directed by Lucy Ostrander. The excerpt is part of an award-winning documentary film biography of Anna Louise Strong, Seattle’s most famous radical.

The General Strike began February 6 and ended February 11, 1919. It was called to support the shipyard workers demands for higher wages after a World War I ended.

The shipyard workers were represented by different crafts that composed a “Metal Trades Council” that had been on strike since January 21, 1919.

The Seattle Central Labor Council called the General Strike in support of the Metal Trades unions. The strike ultimately failed and many labor leaders were jailed and the only labor newspaper in Seattle was shut down.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Available Online, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

1934 San Francisco Longshore Strike

30 Aug

1:39; U.S.

Synopsis: Newsreel footage on the 1934 longshore general strike in San Francisco which helped to birth the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU).

 

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Documentary, Labor History, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo), Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

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600,000 Miners Strike Led by John L. Lewis (1919)

30 Aug

1:54; U.S.

Synopsis: “In November, 1919, Acting President John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers led 600,000 miners in a five week strike that crippled the bituminous coal industry and the nation as well. The strike was in direct defiance of a court injunction against such action and Woodrow Wilson denounced Lewis as a dictator. This was John L. Lewis’ first clash with a United States president; he missed battle with no other president from then on up to Eisenhower.

On December 11, President Wilson and Attorney General Palmer presented Lewis with a proposal that would send the miners back to work: a 14% wage increase (they were getting $2.00 per day) and a commission to work out other questions in the dispute such as hours, health and safety standards. Lewis accepted immediately and the men returned to work, proving their loyalty to their country, he said. Attorney General Palmer commended Mr. Lewis for his wise and patriotic action.

The coal operators, however, charged Palmer with surrender and said that he feared a terrible situation if the government had been forced to jail the miners. A Congressional Committee decided to investigate the strike.”

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Documentary, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo), Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

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Strikebreaking During the Depression (1934)

30 Aug

5:06; U.S.

Director: March of Time newsreel

Synopsis: Newsreel footage about Pearl Berghoff, the owner of the Berghoff Agency which was one of the premier strike-breaking companies through the 1930s.  The newsreel both gives an overview of Berghoff, and looks specifically at his company’s involvement in strikes in Georgia in 1934.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Documentary, Labor History, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

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The Creation of the CIO (1935)

30 Aug

7:18; U.S.

Director: March of Time

Synopsis: Newsreel documentary focusing on John L. Lewis and accounting for the reasons behind and early conflicts over the split of the American Federation of Labor in 1935 and the creation of the rival federation, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).  Film is clearly pro-CIO and contains fantastic footage of Lewis, Sidney Hillman, and other major organizational leaders of labor in the Depression years.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Communism/Socialism, Documentary, Labor History, Organizing, Politics, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

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Labor Unrest in Coal During and After World War II

30 Aug

4:16; U.S.

Director: United Mine Workers of America

Synopsis: Newsreel about the UMW’s fights with the Roosevelt administration during World War II.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Big Business/Corporations, Collective Bargaining, Documentary, Labor History, Politics, Safety & Health, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

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The Brotherhood of Man (1946)

30 Aug

10:36; U.S.

Director: Robert Cannon

Synopsis: An animated short film sponsored by the United Autoworkers which breaks down various racist ideas of difference among peoples.  In some ways the presentation will seem awkward to a modern audience, but considering when it was made and the intended audience (rank-and-file white workers), it is an impressive document.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Animation, Discrimination: Racism, Sexism, etc, Documentary, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

AFL and CIO Merge (1955)

30 Aug

6:34; U.S.

Director: Universal International News

Synopsis: Newsreel footage about the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955 to create the current AFL-CIO.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Documentary, Labor History, Streaming Online (Youtube, Vimeo)

 

Working at Ford in the 1920s (Parts 1 & 2)

30 Aug

In the 1920s, Ford Motor Co. was considered the leader in manufacturing technology and practices. Elements of Taylor’s scientific management were combined with what economists now call “efficiency wages” (wages well above the general market – the famous $5 day). In this video, workers and others of that era reflect on working at Ford. Some are positive; others not.

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing

 

License to Pimp (still in production)

30 Aug

U.S.

Director: Hima B

Synopsis: License to Pimp is a feature documentary about the choices that three San Francisco strippers make as their workplaces engage in illegal labor practices.  Strip clubs refuse to pay strippers even minimum wages & actually charge them for the privilege to work.  I worked in half of San Francisco’s strip clubs during the 1990s and witnessed how co-workers felt economically pressured to engage in prostitution to make their quotas to avoid being fired.  Now as a filmmaker, I uncover current working conditions & try to find out how strip clubs are able to operate outside the law.

Contact: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/himab/license-to-pimp-documentary

 
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Posted by on August 30, 2012 in Documentary, Sex Industry/Sexuality

 
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