Part 9
Labor struggles

The movies on this list are well-suited to watching as a group to stimulate political discussions, and may be especially pertinent in the wake of the Seattle WTO demonstrations. Most can be found on video at the Seattle Public Library, or independent video stores.

*highly recommended
**a "must see"

*AT THE RIVER I STAND Appleby, Graham, Ross 1993 The Civil Rights Movement and the Labor movement join forces in MLKing Jr.'s last fight.

AUSTIN, MINNESOTA P-9 MEAT PACKING STRIKE

BETWEEN ROCK AND A HARD PLACE Mineworkers experience.

THE BIG ONE Michael Moore 1998 Comedy which exposes corporate exploitation of workers-fighting the "scum of corporate America" can be fun.

*BITTER RICE 1948 Story of Italian migrant workers.

BLUE COLLAR 1978 Richard Pryor.

BOUND FOR GLORY Hal Ashby 1976 The life of Woody Guthrie.

BRASSED OFF Mark Herman 1997 Downsizing in British coal mines under Thatcher.

CAPTAIN BOYCOTT Frank Launder 1947 Farmers join forces and rebel when a landowner evicts them; the origin of the word "boycott."

*GERMINAL Claude Berri 1993 Masterpiece. Realistic depiction of an early miners strike.

**GRAPES OF WRATH John Ford 1940 Moving story of the plight of Oklahoma farmers during The Depression. Henry Fonda, John Carradine.

**HARLAN COUNTY, USA 1976 Academy award winning documentary of United Mine Workers strike in Kentucky.

HIGH STAKES IN MORENCI Explains strike of 13 unions against Phelps-Dodge Company in Arizona.

*HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR 1959 Man and woman, scarred by war, begin to heal when they fall in love.

I AM SOMEBODY Madeline Anderson 1970 Documentary of successful strike by African American women hospital workers.

ILLUSION TRAVELS BY STREETCAR Luis Bunuel (Mexican) 1953 Transit workers take condemned streetcar for ride.

INTOLERANCE DW Griffith 1916 Epic film showing clearcut cases of injustice, although racism is accepted, due perhap to the film's liberal viewpoint.

JOE HILL 1971.

*KAMERADSCHAFT GW Pabst (German)1931 Mining accident brings out the best in wartime "enemy" workers.

THE KILLING FLOOR 1985 An early attempt by oppressed workers to organize the slaughter house industry.

LABOR ON THE JOB: DISCUSSION OF THE S.F. NEWSPAPER LITTLE VOICE Mark Herman 1998 Life in a working class town in England.

LABORS TURNING POINT: 1934 Minneapolis Teamster Strike Interesting documentary on a crucial labor battle.

LA SALAIRE DE LA PEUR (see THE WAGES OF FEAR).

LITTLE THIEVES, BIG THIEVES (Venezuelan) 1998 attack on the banking industry.

**LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER "Delinquent" youth is pressured into participating in "the system."

MANY FACES OF PAPER David Riker 1980's Documents striking Maine Paper Workers.

*MATEWAN 1987 James Earl Jones Battle of Bear Creek, early miners strike.

MINUTE OF SILENCE (French) 1998 Downsizing in coal mining industry.

MODERN TIMES Charlie Chaplin Humorous satirical look at technology's effect on workers.

*THE MOLLY McGUIRES 1970 Radical mine workers movement.

MOUSELAND Cartoon about the need for class independence.

**NORMA RAE Delightful and moving story of a young woman who becomes a union organizer in order to help her community. Sally Fields.

NORTHERN LIGHTS 1978 Documentary on farmers in N. Dakota facing ruination in 1915-16, organizing Nonpartisan League.

ON THE JOB: COLD WAR AGAINST LABOR Labor Video Project 1987.

ON THE WATERFRONT 1954 Marlon Brando A hoodlum stands up when the mafia kills people he cares about.

**THE ORGANIZER Mario Monicelli 1963 Early unionizing effort in Italy. Positive, exciting and upbeat, with many important organizing lessons.

QUE VIVA: LABOR IN EL SALVADOR 1987 The role of organized labor in bringing about political & social change.

RAINING STONES Ken Loach 1993 Comedy gives insight into the effect of unemployment on people.

RIFF RAFF Ken Loach 1992 Homeless men laboring at construction site.

**ROGER & ME 1989 A terrific film depicting the impact plant closings have on the community.

ROSIE THE RIVETER, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF Documentary on the inclusion of women in the work force in WWII.

SACCO & VANZETTI 1971.

**SALT OF THE EARTH 1953 Striking mineworkers. Entire movie, as well as its director, Herbert Biberman, and actors, were blacklisted due to FBI and McCarthyism.

SIT DOWN AND FIGHT 1992 PBS documentary on the Auto Workers Union, and Walter Reuther.

SPIES IN STEEL, THE DOLLAR-A-DAY MAN Tom Selinski 1997 US Steel Trust's anti-union use of spies in 1928.

STRIKE Sergei Eisenstien 1924 The brutally defeated strike under the Czar.

STRIKE STORY PBS documentary on the 1934 West Coast Maritime Workers Union.

STRUGGLE IN THE HEARTLAND Staley strike.

THE SUMMER OF '34 Minneapolis Teamster strike.

THESE HANDS (Tanzania) 1992 A documentary on women quarry workers in Mozambique.

THIS FAR BY FAITH The struggle and victory of Delta Pride catfish workers.

UNION MAIDS Julia Reichert 1976 Documents lives of 3 Chicago union organizers during the 1930's.

*THE UPRISING OF "34 G. Stoney, J. Helfand, S. Rostock 1995 Documentary of of lives and of strike of cotton mill workers.

WAGES OF FEAR H.G. Clouzot 1952 Adventure of two desperate workers who are willing to risk their lives in order to work.

WHERE'S JIMMY HOFFA 1992 Documentary explaining this legendary albeit corrupt labor leader,and his disappearance.

THE WILLMAR EIGHT.

WITH BABIES AND BANNERS Lorraine Gray 1978 The story of the Women's Emergency Brigade, Backbone of 1937 GM Sit-down Strike.

THE WOBBLIES Deborah Shaffer & Stewart Bird 1979 A terriffic documentary of the IWW.

A WORKING WOMAN'S WAY FORWARD (German) 1929?

WRATH OF GRAPES United Farm Workers struggle.