Thread by @JeffSchuhrke

Every documentary about the labor movement ever made and how to watch. 🧵

Union Maids (1976)

3 women union organizers from Chicago recall their activism in the 1930s.

With Babies & Banners (1979)

Focuses on the key role of women in the UAW’s epic Flint sit-down strike of 1936-37.

The Great Sit-Down (1976)

The BBC’s look at the Flint sit-down strike of 1936-37. Includes interviews w/ the strike participants.

United Action Means Victory (1939)

UAW-produced film about the 1939 tool and die makers strike at 8 GM plants.

filmpreservation.org/preserved-film…

Finally Got the News (1970)

The League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit tell their story and lay out their political program & ideology.

At the River I Stand (1993)

Tells the story of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, Martin Luther King Jr.’s last campaign.

I Am Somebody (1970)

Follows the 1969 strike of Black women hospital workers in Charleston, SC, led by 1199B & supported by Coretta Scott King.

vimeo.com/ondemand/iamso…

The Inheritance (1964)

Film made by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to educate its younger members about the movement they were “inheriting.”

With These Hands (1950)

Not exactly a documentary, this film was made by the ILGWU on its 50th anniversary to highlight the union’s accomplishments (w/ some anticommunist propaganda).

Harlan County, USA (1976)

Follows the 1973 United Mine Workers strike in Harlan County, KY—a place with a strong history of worker resistance.

American Dream (1990)

The story of the spirited, controversial, & ultimately unsuccessful Hormel strike in 1985-86 led by Local P-9 of the UCFW in Minnesota.

The Wobblies (1979)

The epic story of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

facebook.com/MyLaborTalk/vi…

Eugene Debs: Trade Unionist, Socialist, Revolutionary (1979)

Film made & narrated by Bernie Sanders about legendary labor leader turned Socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debs.

American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs (2017)

A more recent documentary about Debs & his legacy.

imdb.com/title/tt708834…

The Revolutionist: Eugene V. Debs (2019)

An even more recent documentary on Debs.

pbs.org/video/the-revo…

Seeing Red (1983)

Activists recall their participation in the US Communist Party in the 1930s, including in the labor movement.

The Last Pullman Car (1983)

The Chicago workers who manufacture Pullman passenger railcars & their union struggle to save their jobs in a deindustrializing USA.

archive.org/details/thelas…

A. Philip Randolph For Jobs and Freedom (1996)

The life & times of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters founder & civil rights icon A. Philip Randolph.

Rising from the Rails: The Story of the Pullman Porter (2006)

Chronicles the legacy of the Pullman porters.

imdb.com/title/tt079683…

Miles of Smiles, Years of Trouble (1982)

Retired Pullman porters reunite and reminisce. 

imdb.com/title/tt022958…

Brothers on the Line (2012)

Follows the life of UAW prez Walter Reuther and his brothers, Victor & Roy. Made by Victor’s grandson Sasha Reuther.

brothersontheline.com/buy

9to5: The Story of a Movement (2021)

Tells the story of women clerical workers who organized against exploitation & sexism in the 1970s.

netflix.com/title/81160953

Harvest of Shame (1960)

CBS News exposes the plight of migrant farmworkers in the USA to millions of TV viewers.

Prejudice & Pride (2013)

An episode of the PBS series Latino Americans chronicling the rise of the United Farm Workers in the late 1960s.

pbs.org/video/latino-a…

Dolores (2017)

The life & times of United Farm Workers founder Dolores Huerta.

doloresthemovie.com

The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1980)

Women who entered the industrial workforce during WWII recall their experiences.

clarityfilms.org/rosie.html

Mother Jones: America’s Most Dangerous Woman (2007)

On the life of iconic labor organizer Mary Harris “Mother” Jones.

imdb.com/title/tt149300…

Mine Wars (2019)

PBS film exploring the West Virginia coal wars of the early 1900s. 

pbs.org/wgbh/americane…

We Dig Coal: A Portrait of Three Women (1982)

Follows 3 women coalminers. Might be accessible via your public or university library.

laborfilms.com/2012/06/13/we-…

Blood on the Mountain (2016)

Follows how the coal industry continues to exert power on West Virginia workers in the 21st century & the continue to resist.

imdb.com/title/tt345811…

Harry Bridges: A Man and His Union (1992)

The life of the great International Longshore & Warehouse Union leader and leftist Harry Bridges.

The 1934 Waterfront Strike: Solidarity on the Docks (2022)

Episode of the PBS series Oregon Experience documenting the famous 1934 west coast dockworkers’ strike.

pbs.org/video/the-1934…

The Uprising of '34 (1995)

Southern textile workers recall the story of the epic General Textile Strike of 1934.

imdb.com/title/tt011481…

Where Do You Stand? Stories from an American Mill (2004)

The long struggle of textile workers at Cannon Mills in Kannapolis, NC to unionize.

imdb.com/title/tt153311…

Union Time: Fighting for Workers' Rights (2018)

Story of the successful struggle unionize the world's largest pork slaughterhouse, operated by Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, NC.

imdb.com/title/tt981493…

Haymarket: The Bomb, The Anarchists, The Labor Struggle (2021)

Story of the famous 1886-87 Haymarket Affair in Chicago.

newday.com/films/haymarke…

Triangle Fire (2018)

PBS documentary examining the infamous Triangle shirtwaist fire in 1911 that killed 146 mostly women immigrant workers.

pbs.org/wgbh/americane…

Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried (2023)

Examines the 1937 police shooting of striking steelworkers at Chicago’s Republic Steel & the suppressed newsreel film of the incident.

pbs.org/video/memorial…

The People vs. Willie Farah (1973)

Latina workers on strike at El Paso’s Farah Manufacturing Company discuss their working conditions & their fight for a union.

texasarchive.org/2011_02871

Made in L.A. (2007)

3 Latina immigrant garment workers in LA fight for basic workplace rights.

imdb.com/title/tt109181…

The Hand That Feeds (2014)

Undocumented sandwich workers in NYC struggle against abusive conditions.

imdb.com/title/tt281271…

No Contract, No Cookies: The Stella D’Oro Strike (2011)

Bronx workers at the Stella D’oro cookie company struggle to save their jobs.

max.com/movies/no-cont…

American Factory (2019)

An abandoned GM plant in Ohio is reopened by a Chinese company, but without a union.

netflix.com/title/81090071

The Blue-Collar Trap (1972)

NBC documentary highlighting the dissatisfaction & restlessness of the younger generation of blue-collar workers.

archive.org/details/theblu…

Biography- John L. Lewis (1962)

An episode of the syndicated “Biography” TV show hosted by Mike Wallace examining the life of UMWA prez & CIO founder John L. Lewis.

Betrayal: When the Government Took Over the Teamsters Union (2019)

Examines the consequences of the 1989-2020 federal government takeover of the Teamsters.

betrayalfilm.org

UPS Strike: Lessons from '97 (2023)

The story of the Teamsters’ successful strike at UPS in 1997.

$4 a Day? No Way!: Joining Hands Across the Border (1991)

The story of Mexican Ford workers in Cuautitlán, whose fight for union democracy in 1990 was met with violence.

youtube.com/clip/UgkxV9sgF…

Maquilapolis (2006)

The exploitation & struggles of Mexican maquila workers in Tijuana. 

The Take (2004)

After Argentina's 2001 economic collapse, factory workers break into abandoned factories to restart production on a cooperative basis.

Nae Pasaran (2018)

Story of the Scottish machinists who refused to repair plan engines for Pinochet’s Chilean dictatorship in the 1970s & the impact of their solidarity.

vimeo.com/ondemand/naepa…

I think those are all the ones I'm aware of. Feel free to add any I've missed. Happy Labor Day!