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Category Archives: Organizing

The Night Before the Strike (1990)

20 Apr

105m; South Korea

Director: Chang Yoon-Hyun, Eun Lee, Dong-hong Jang, Jae-kyu Lee

Cast: Su-chang Kong, Kyeong-cheol Min, Eun-chae Kim

Synopsis (www.//koreafilm.org): Dongseong Metal employs over 200 impecunious workers at its production plant. One day, a new worker named Ju Wan-ik joins the Forging Team, and the team members welcome him with drinks and good cheer. Han-su, who is also a member of the Forging Team, longs to shake off the insufferable shackles of poverty. His dream, which he is determined to realize, is to work hard, save, and become rich someday. But to the management, the workers are mere machines that are unfortunately prone to breakage. Director Kim meticulously lays down his plans against the impending unionization of his laborers, and Han-su is recruited by his manager to stand on the side of the company.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Manufacturing, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

No Contract, No Cookies: The Stella D’Oro Strike (2010)

20 Apr

39m; U.S.

Director: Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill

Synopsis (IMDB): Follows the struggle of 138 mostly immigrant workers who strike to save their jobs at a famous bakery in the Bronx when a private equity firm buys the bakery and demands wage cuts of up to 30%.

Contact: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/no-contract-no-cookies-the-stella-doro-strike/index.html#/documentaries/no-contract-no-cookies-the-stella-doro-strike/synopsis.html

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Finance, Immigrants/Immigration, Organizing, Service Workers, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

No Sweat (2006)

20 Apr

54m; U.S.

Director: Amie Williams

Synopsis (IMDB): An all-American tale about an all-American garment: The T-shirt, NO SWEAT takes a wild ride into the bowels of Los Angeles garment industry. Mostly undocumented workers at American Apparel and SweatX are offered better wages, benefits, even a shot at worker-ownership. But what’s really behind the label?

Contact: http://www.balmaidenfilms.com/who.html

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration, Organizing, Working Class

 

No Te Rajes (2006)

20 Apr

29m; Mexico

Director: Caitlin Manning

Synopsis (mediarights.org): A documentary by Caitlin Manning and the Videoactivista collective about the movement of peaceful civil disobedience that took over the heart of Mexico City for 49 days July trough September of this year.  The movement was catalyzed by the fraudulent elections in July 2006. The documentary provides background and context for the current upsurge of social unrest in Mexico.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Global Economy, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

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Northern Lights (1978)

20 Apr

95m; U.S.

Director: John Hanson, Rob Nilsson

Cast: Robert Behling, Susan Lynch and Joe Spano

Synopsis: Northern Lights tells the story of North Dakota farmers who rebel against the economic tyranny of the railroads, grain dealers, and bankers by working for the election of Nonpartisan League candidates in 1916. (from http://jetson.unl.edu/cocoon/encyclopedia/doc/egp.fil.051)

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in 2026 Shortlist, Drama, Farm & Food, Finance, Labor History, Organizing, Politics

 

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Nothing But A Man (1964)

20 Apr

95m; U.S.

Director: Michael Roemer

Cast:  Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln and Julius Harris

Synopsis (IMDB): Born in Birmingham, Duff Anderson, the father of a male toddler, who lives with a nanny, re-locates to a small town to work on the railroad. He meets with and is attracted to Josie much to the chagrin of her preacher father. The marriage does take place nevertheless, both re-locate to live in their own house and he gets a job in a mill. He decides not to bring his son to live with them. Challenges arise when the Mill Foreman finds out that Duff is attempting to unionize the workers, forcing Duff to quit, and look for work elsewhere. Unable to reconcile himself to working on a daily wage of $2.50 picking cotton nor even as a waiter, he gets a job at a garage. He is enraged at a customer for belittling him and Josie, and is let go. Unemployed, unable to support his wife and son, he gets abusive and leaves – perhaps never to return.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in A: Highly Recommended Labor Films, Blacks, Class, Collective Bargaining, Drama, Farm & Food, Organizing, Unemployment-Wages, Working Class

 

Our Daily Bread (1934)

20 Apr

80m; U.S.

Director: King Vidor

Cast: Karen Morley, Tom Keene and Barbara Pepper

Synopsis (IMDB): John and Mary sims are city-dwellers hit hard by the financial fist of The Depression. Driven by bravery (and sheer desperation) they flee to the country and, with the help of other workers, set up a farming community – a socialist mini-society based upon the teachings of Edward Gallafent. The newborn community suffers many hardships – drought, vicious raccoons and the long arm of the law – but ultimately pull together to reach a bread-based Utopia.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in A: Highly Recommended Labor Films, Drama, Farm & Food, Organizing, Philosophy, Politics, Working Class

 

Our Families, Our Community, Our Union (2007)

20 Apr

12m; U.S.

Director: Jano Oscherwitz

Synopsis: The struggle of Native American healthcare workers to organize and the issues that they face.

Contact: Jano.oscherwitz@seiu1021.org

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Safety & Health, Service Workers

 

Our Land Too (1988)

20 Apr

57m; U.S.

Director: Kudzu Productions

Synopsis (Baldwin and Associates): A historical production telling the story of the first interracial movements in America, the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Blacks, Documentary, Farm & Food, Labor History, Organizing

 

Out of Darkness: The Mine Worker’s Story (1991)

20 Apr

100m; U.S.

Director: Barbara Kopple and Bill Davis

Synopsis: An electrifying documentary by Academy-Award-winning director Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA) and award-winning video director and editor Bill Davis. Historical film footage and photographs are integrated with first-hand accounts of Mine Workers’ history and of the recent battle with the Pittston Coal Group. Accompanied by a moving soundtrack created by Tom Juravich, this 100-minute film represents real life stories with a powerful, dramatic touch.

 
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Posted by on April 20, 2012 in Collective Bargaining, Documentary, Labor History, Organizing

 

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