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Category Archives: Organizing

Aliquippa: The Union Comes to “Little Siberia.”

24 Jan

30m; U.S.

Synopsis: This half-hour documentary, part of the PBS “Great Depression” program series, tells the dramatic story of the struggle at J&L Steel that led to the famous Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Wagner Act. After the win at Aliquippa extended the union beyond U.S. Steel surrendering without a shot in secret negotiations between John L. Lewis and Myron Taylor, the steelworkers’ union hit up against Tom Girdler’s extreme resistance. The Memorial Day massacre of 1937, just weeks after the victory at Aliquippa, kept the unions inside “Little Steel” without a contract until 1941.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

 

American Dream (1990)

24 Jan

98m; U.S.

Director: Barbara Kopple 

Synopsis (IMDB): Chronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign against Hormel. Despite support from P-9’s rank and file, FCWU’s international disagrees with the strategy. In addition to union-company tension, there’s union-union in-fighting. Hormel holds firm; scabs, replacement workers, brothers on opposite sides, a union coup d’état, and a new contract materialize. The film asks, was it worth it, or was the strike a long-term disaster for organized labor?  Won the Oscar in 1990 for Best Documentary.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Safety & Health, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

 

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An Injury to One (2008)

24 Jan

18m; Switzerland

Director: Paul Williams, Kristyne Peter & Anita Gardner

Synopsis: The Mexican miners’ struggle for union independence.

Contact: Kristyne Peter, International Metalworkers’ Federation, kpeter@imfmetal.org http://www.imfmetal.org

 

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing

 

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Another World is Possible: Impressions of the 2002 World Social Forum

24 Jan

24m; U.S.

Director: Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young

Synopsis: What if 51,000 activists from 131 countries put their heads together to discuss what is wrong with the world and how to change it?

Contact: http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/awip.html

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing

 

Argentina: Turning Around

24 Jan

38m; U.S. and Argentina

Director: Melissa Young

Synopsis: Argentinian workers run factories “recovered” from owners.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Organizing

 

At Home in Utopia (2008)

24 Jan

133m; U.S.

Director: Michal Goldman

Synopsis (IMDB): During the economic boom of the 1920s, thousands of immigrant Jewish factory workers managed to build the house of their dreams, a cooperative apartment complex at the edge of Bronx Park. Then they were hit by the Great Depression. At Home in Utopia bears witness to an epic social experiment across two generations in the Coops – a place known as “little Moscow” – where people tried to change the American dream into one that included racial justice and workers’ rights.

Contact: Michal Goldman Michalman@aol.com Filmmakers Collaborative 397 Moody Street Waltham MA 02453 T 781 647-1102 F 781 647-1140

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Immigrants/Immigration, Organizing, Women, Working Class

 

Battle of Chile (1978)

24 Jan

 

Director: Patricio Guzmán

Synopsis: Three-part documentary series about Salvador Allende’s government, the September 11, 1973 coup which overthrew it, and resistance by workers there after.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts

 

The Battle of Local 5668 (2007)

24 Jan

53m; U.S.

Director: Shawn Bennett

Synopsis: Story of the ultimately successful 1990 Steelworker’s strike against Ravenswood; Shawn Bennett grew up in Parkersburg, studying film at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and studying under Julia Reichert (“Union Maids.”) His father Joe worked at The Ravenswood Aluminum plant for years, and was part of the famous lock-out that took place for almost two years starting in 1990. Using historic footage, TV news broadcasts, and interviews with people who took part in one of the most important labor struggles in recent American history, he presents a compelling story of global capitalism vs. devoted workers. The United Steelworkers and fellow union members traveled around the country and world, protesting the inhumanity of the corporate leaders in a model campaign for justice. Marc Rich, an international criminal pardoned by President Clinton during his last day in office, was the man at the top.

Contact: http://www.battleoflocal5668.com/ shawn@shawnbennett.net 310-729-9080 (Cell)

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

 

Battlestar Galactica (“Dirty Hands”) [2007]

24 Jan

42m; U.S.

Director: Wayne Rose

Cast: Aaron Douglas, Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell 

Synopsis: Battlestar Galactica ran for four seasons on the SyFy network and is considered by many the best science-fiction television program yet created.  Focusing on a fleet of human survivors from a mass genocide, the program explored all manner of personal and political issues.  Among those was labor – in this episode from the third season one of the main characters restarts a union by becoming the leader of a strike on a mining ship.  “Dirty Hands” explores several facets of labor, most interestingly how unions navigate their relationship to the government and their role in promoting social mobility.

Key Scene

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Organizing, SciFi, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Working Class

 

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The Bauen Workers’ Cooperative (2005)

24 Jan

21m; Argentina

Director: Grupo Alavio & Marie Trigona

Synopsis: The story of the bankruptcy of a modern 4 star hotel in Buenos Aires and the role of the workers in protecting their jobs through an occupation.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Documentary, Organizing, Service Workers, Working Class

 
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