1% Is Not Enough {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: 1% Is Not Enough / Congress Hotel Strike 5th Year Anniversary / Labor Beat Remembers Utah Phillips LB}
Buy on Disk 
120lbletimeroll. PSA. 120 sec. {LB} –n–
Early draft begun. A 120-second PSA with Labor Beat and Labor Express broadcasts times on 2006-10-23. NOTE: Times must be updated since 2009 change to MONDAYS broadcasts! Text as a full width roll.
Mins 2.0
30lbwww. PSA. 30 sec. {LB} –n–
A 30-second PSA promoting the Labor Beat web site. Please use this often within your video productions and link to it on your websites.
Mins 0.5
60lboncantv. PSA. 60 sec. { –n–
A 60-second PSA. Labor Beat broadcast times roll up while slides from shows change quickly. Thumbnail video. 5 minutes to download via broadband internet. 25 MB. Avi file playable by Windows Media Player, QuickTime, RealPlayer and other software.
Mins 1.0
ABA You're the Worst {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: ABA You're the Worst / Showdown in Chicago / Chicago Street Sitdown for Boston Hyatt Workers LB}
(See the description for the later Labor Beat series show.)
Action for New Prioroties testimony. { –n–
Action for New Prioroties testimony.
Mins 39:27Air and War Show {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Billikin / Air and War Show LB}
This segment is described in the Labor Beat show’s description.
Albany Park Day Laborers {LB432}
Within: Labor Beat: Michigan Avenue Sitdown / Albany Park Day Laborers LB432}
Chicago Albany Park Day Laborers battle for a meeting place. This segment was produced by CIMC and Labor Beat producer Thomas Yun.
The American Connection { –n–
Mins 028:50Anita Chan--Should we establish contacts with the Chinese trade unions? {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Workers, Immigrants, Veterans - May Day 2008 Chicago / Anita Chan--Should we establish contacts with the Chinese trade unions? LB}
Anti-IMF A16 {LB345}
Within: Labor Beat: Stop Privatization at UIC Hospital / Anti-IMF A16 / Youth Jobs / Maxwell Street LB345}
Anti-IMF A16 {LB} –n–
Anti-NATO Demo {LB323}
Within: Labor Beat: Tool and Engineering Strike / Anti-NATO Demo / Public Housing Hearing LB323}
Between the Lines: The Haymarket Tragedy {GV007} –n–
A discussion of the events of the Haymarket Riot of 1886, the political climate that led up to it, and the grave injustices that were carried out against the eight men known as the Haymarket martyrs.
Guests are: Professor William Adelman, author of the book, "Haymarket Revisited"; Bill Parsons, great grandnephew of Haymarket Martyr, Albert Parsons; and Bill Neebe, grandson of Haymarket Martyr, Oscar Neebe.
Not for sale. Denise Rose, producer, 1986. 50 minutes.
Billiken {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Billikin / Air and War Show LB}
This segment is described in the show’s description.
Briefcases and Bomb Shelters {LB}
Within: Briefcases and Bomb Shelters / Stoney Does Dallas / Tribune Strikers Rally LB}
"Briefcases and Bomb Shelters." At times whimsical, at times chilling, this program views a modern phenomenon--the bomb shelter. It is also a tongue-in-cheek critique of the lifestyles of the "bomb shelter" believers, and contains a hilarious interview with a briefcase salesman. The video was prompted, in part, by a widely reported plan to make the briefcase part of the "protective cover" during a nuclear attack. This tape has won awards at the Great Lakes, Illinois, and Athens, Ohio film and video festivals. Bob Hercules, 13:30, 1986
"Stoney Does Dallas." Berkeley, California humorist/street performer Stoney Burke conducts a ’tour’ of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. The results are both hilarious and politically biting. Media Process Group, 7:20, 1984.
"Tribune Strikers Rally." On January 4, 1986 the three unions on strike against the Chicago Tribune held a huge rally in which the rank and file from many other trade unions in the city participated. The tape documents the rally and presents a perspective on a growing phenomena in the U.S.: the systematic union busting by corporations around the country. Media Process Group, 6:00, 1986.
Briefcases and Bomb Shelters / Stoney Does Dallas / Tribune Strikers Rally {GV002} –n–
"Briefcases and Bomb Shelters."
At times whimsical, at times chilling, this program views a modern phenomenon--the bomb shelter. It is also a tongue-in-cheek critique of the lifestyles of the "bomb shelter" believers, and contains a hilarious interview with a briefcase salesman.
The video was prompted, in part, by a widely reported plan to make the briefcase part of the "protective cover" during a nuclear attack.
This tape has won awards at the Great Lakes, Illinois, and Athens, Ohio film and video festivals. Bob Hercules, 13:30, 1986
"Stoney Does Dallas."
Berkeley, California humorist/street performer Stoney Burke conducts a ’tour’ of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. The results are both hilarious and politically biting. Media Process Group, 7:20, 1984.
"Tribune Strikers Rally."
On January 4, 1986 the three unions on strike against the Chicago Tribune held a huge rally in which the rank and file from many other trade unions in the city participated. The tape documents the rally and presents a perspective on a growing phenomena in the U.S.: the systematic union busting by corporations around the country. Media Process Group, 6:00, 1986.
CACOSH Convention {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Workers Memorial Day / CACOSH Convention / Greyhound Striker Rally LB} –n–
Chicago City Colleges {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: San Francisco Hotel Workers Strike / Chicago City Colleges LB}
Chicago College Counselors Fight {LB394}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago College Counselors Fight / Portland Custodians Vs. Privatization LB394}
Chicago Gary Homeless Union {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago Gary Homeless Union / Shipyard Strike (excerpt) LB}
Chicago MayDay 2000 {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago MayDay 2000 / SAG-AFTRA Strike / Globalization and Greed LB}
Chicago MayDay 2000 {LB346}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago MayDay 2000 / SAG-AFTRA Strike / Globalization and Greed LB346}
Chicago Protests 5 Years of War {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago Protests 5 Years of War / Trade Union Movement in Iraq LB}
Chicago Stands with Oaxaca {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: CIW Seeks Support in Chicago / Chicago Stands with Oaxaca / How Unions Can Utilize Public Access TV LB}
Protest at Mexican Consulate to show solidarity with the Oaxaca uprising and to protest the murder of IMC videographer Brad Will.
Chicago Street Sitdown for Boston Hyatt Workers {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: ABA You're the Worst / Showdown in Chicago / Chicago Street Sitdown for Boston Hyatt Workers LB}
CLWU, The Power of Sisterhood {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Organize! Jobs with Justice / CLUW, The Power of Sisterhood LB} –n–
CLWU, The Power of Sisterhood {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Back to the Border / The Power of Sisterhood LB} –n–
Coalition of Immokalee Workers Seeks Support in Chicago {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: CIW Seeks Support in Chicago / Chicago Stands with Oaxaca / How Unions Can Utilize Public Access TV LB}
Scenes and interviews from fall 2006 CIW campaign in the Chicago area.
College Counselors {LB392}
Within: Labor Beat: Court Reporters / College Counselors / Taco Bell Boycott / LB392}
Colleges {LB368}
Within: Labor Beat: People Vs. Property in the 47th Ward / Steelworkers / Colleges / Longshoremen LB368}
Congress Hotel Strike {LB446}
Within: Labor Beat: Congress Hotel Strike / Trainwreck of Ideologies LB446}
Congress Hotel Strike 5th Year Anniversary {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: 1% Is Not Enough / Congress Hotel Strike 5th Year Anniversary / Labor Beat Remembers Utah Phillips LB}
Court Reporters {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Court Reporters / College Counselors / Taco Bell Boycott / LB} –n–
Crossborder Mural Project -- The Video {LB}
Witness the creation of two labor murals, one in Mexico City, the other in Chicago, linked by the collaborative efforts of unions from both sides of the border.
In April, 1997 Mike Alewitz paints a mural in the headquarters of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) in Mexico City. Later in the year, Mexican muralist Daniel Manrique Arias and three young muralists from co-sponsoring Chicago Public Arts Group paint a mural on an outside wall of the United Electrical Workers (UE) District 11 Hall in Chicago, Illinois.
This ambitious cultural project of the pioneering crossborder Strategic Organizing Alliance between UE and Mexico’s independent labor federation gives visual expression to the idea of international solidarity.
Labor muralist Alewitz features Mexican hero Emiliano Zapata and Albert and Lucy Parsons. Albert Parsons was executed on trumped up charges following the Haymarket Square incident in Chicago. Lucy Parsons fought to prove her husband’s innocence and improve conditions for workers and women. The mural is entitled "Sindicalismo Sin Fronteras / Unions Without Borders"
Manrique is a major voice in Mexican art and the foremost exponent of the neighborhood-based movement Tepito Arte Aca. His mural is entitled "Hands in Solidarity -- Hands of Freedom / Manos Solidarias--Manos Libres."
UE Director of International Labor Affairs Robin Alexander and both muralists talk about the project and the painting of the murals. Video is a spellbinding collection of visions from inside the world of two muralist at the moment of creation. Produced and edited by Steve Dalber, a member of Labor Beat.
Special ordering information for "Crossborder Mural Project -- The Video" (34:23 in length): Send $30 (which includes shipping and handling) to Steve Dalber, 5012 N. California, Chicago, IL 60625. For more information: sdalber@ccc.edu.
Daughters of Mother Jones {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Miners Strike Freeman Coal / Daughters of Mother Jones LB}
Daughters of Mother Jones { –n–
Decatur Labor Vs. City Hall {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Politics, Pullman Labor Day / Decatur Labor vs City Hall LB}
Disinformation Tape #1: The MacNeal/Lehrer News Hour {GV003}
An analysis of a MacNeil/Lehrer show focusing on the issue of ’humanitarian aid’ for the contras in Nicaragua.
While foregoing the history of Nicaragua and its relationship with the U.S. since the turn of the century, the participants provide the illusion of debate as to what degree the U.S. will intervene in the affairs of Nicaragua. Warren Leming and Bob Hercules, 1:10:00, 1985.
Dont Shop Delray {LB320}
Within: Labor Beat: La Causa Vive / Dont Shop Delray / Anti-War Demo LB320}
An Evening With Carlos Cortez {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: An Evening With Carlos Cortez / Baldemar Velasquez LB}
The Face Behind the Label {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Workers Visit A GAP Store / The Face Behind The Label LB}
Faces of Injustice {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Faces of Injustice / Lottery Bureau / What Animal Is It? LB}
unknown
Fighting Wal-Mart in Chicago {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Day Laborers / Fighting Wal-Mart in Chicago LB}
.
The Fred Thompson Interviews {GV006} –n–
Shot as part of the Committee for Labor Access Oral History Project, the Fred Thompson interviews help document the life and times of this extraordinary IWW member.
Thompson traces his life from his boyhood in Canada, where he first encountered socialism, to his last years in Chicago, where he single-handedly revived the Kerr Publishing Company. Indispensible to students of IWW history, the interview includes Thompson`s memories of San Quentin, following his trial and conviction for "sedition and agitation" while hoboing in California.
A fascinating look at a dedicated organizer and at a past which has been carefully forgotten by conservative historians. Also contains an excellent account of the "working peoples’ college" in Duluth, Minnesota, where Thompson taught and played a leading role. Media Process Group, 120 min.
Gentrification of Chicago {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Puerto Rican March on the Sun-Times / Gentrification of Chicago LB}
Gerald Zero on the Teamsters {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: No Mob Rule / Gerald Zero on the Teamsters LB}
Globalization and Greed {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago MayDay 2000 / SAG-AFTRA Strike / Globalization and Greed LB}
Globalization and Greed {LB346}
Within: Labor Beat: Chicago MayDay 2000 / SAG-AFTRA Strike / Globalization and Greed LB346}
God and Country: The Rise of the Religious Right { –n–
Mins 30estGovernment for Sale: When Public Services Go Private { –n–
Mins 30estGreyhound Striker Rally {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Workers Memorial Day / CACOSH Convention / Greyhound Striker Rally LB} –n–
Greyhound Update {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Workers Memorial Day / Greyhound Update / Rat Monday LB} –n–
Grove Parc Apartments {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Peru Trade Action at Obama HQ / Health Care Vigil / Grove Parc Apartments / Maersk Picket LB}
Health Care Vigil {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Peru Trade Action at Obama HQ / Health Care Vigil / Grove Parc Apartments / Maersk Picket LB}
Home Health Care Workers {LB360}
Within: Labor Beat: Immigrant Amnesty March / Home Health Care Workers / Ralph Nader LB360}
Honduras Election {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Pain Dry Ice Strike / Obama's War / Honduras Election LB}
How Unions Can Utilize Public Access TV {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: CIW Seeks Support in Chicago / Chicago Stands with Oaxaca / How Unions Can Utilize Public Access TV LB}
Produced by SEIU 503 in Oregon.
Hungry for Help {GV008} –n–
What people are doing in their communities to fight hunger. The video profiles several volunteers who work in a soup kitchen in a Chicago neighborhood. Denise Rose, producer, 1986. 17 min.
Mins 17:00I'll Never Do That Again {GV001} –n–
Denis Mueller’s award-winning documentary about the Vietnam war begins at the June 13, 1986, Vietnam War Veterans’ national parade in Chicago, Illinois.
The event attracted the largest gathering of veterans since the war. Among them was a large contingent of "Veterans Against War". Denis Mueller gives the vets a chance to be heard, including one veteran’s powerful talk to a group of Chicago high school students.
This tape is both a hard-hitting indictment of the war and a fascinating look at the men who came away from Vietnam with a new understanding of themselves and their country. Dennis Mueller, producer, 1986. 30 minutes.
Image Maker {LB} –n–
Within: Labor Beat: Unfair Skies: Icahn, TWA, and Unionbusting / Image-Maker LB} –n–
Immigrant Amnesty March {LB360}
Within: Labor Beat: Immigrant Amnesty March / Home Health Care Workers / Ralph Nader LB360}
In the Land of the Lesser Evil {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Disability Nightmare / In the Land of the Lesser Evil LB}
Insult to Injury {LB438}
Within: Labor Beat: Labor Protests City Hall / Stealth Pollution / Insult to Injury / Teachers at SOA LB438}
Interview with MST activist Vanderly Scarabeli { –n–
This is the full version of my interview with MST activist Vanderly Scarabeli. It originally aired on the Labor Express radio program in two parts. The first on 2-13-05 the second on 2-27-05. The MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) is the Landless Workers Movement of Brazil. An organization dedicated to winning landless rural Brazilians access to land through land seizures and the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. In this interview, conducted in November of 2004, Mr. Scarabeli talks about the history of the MST, the philosophy of their movement, their relationship to the Worker’s Party government of Lula Da Silva and their role in the World Social Forum process.
It's About Time for 925 { –n–
Mins 30estIt's A Done Deal: CPS vs Community {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: It's A Done Deal: CPS vs Community / Picketing the Monarch Ball / Mouseland LB}
The Jewish Wife { –n–
jacque brell? Lb gv? Group?
The Jewish Wife / Weimar / Labor Relations: The New Fall Season {LB} –n–
Within: The Jewish Wife / Weimar / Labor Relations: The New Fall Season LB} –n–
"The Jewish Wife." Video presentation of Bertold Brecht’s brief one act play. Originally part of a larger Brecht production, titled "Fear and Loathing in the Third Reich." Warren Leming, 20:00, 1985.
"Weimar." Excerpted segments from a political cabaret staged at Crosscurrents Theatre in Chicago. Topics range from U.S. intervention in Nicaragua to a commentary on the bourgeois art world to a skit on the macho sensibility that promotes war. Warren Leming, 11:00, 1984.
"Labor Relations: The New Fall Season." It’s labor contract negotiation time and our ’heroes,’ two veteran labor management types, debate the most economical way to squeeze further concessions from the union. The central tactic they settle on is drug testing and they concoct an elaborate corporate television strategy to present and promote the drug testing issue. Warren Leming and Media Process Group, 12:30, 1986.
Jobs with Justice March and Rally {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Cinderella City / Jobs with Justice March and Rally LB}
Just Stand in the Squares {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Sweatshop Wear Is Unfair / Just Stand in the Squares LB}
Just Stand In the Squares {LB}
Within: Labor Beat: Sweatshop Wear Is Unfair / Just Stand in the Squares LB}
Canadian labor educator D’Arcy Martin (author of "Thinking Union") presents a creative dramatization of economic class divisions, using audience participation, at an event sponsored by Chicago Center for Working Class Studies.
Just Stand In the Squares {LB}
Within: Alliance to End Repression mtg 197?-Mar-20 2nd of 3 LB}
Canadian labor educator D’Arcy Martin (author of "Thinking Union") presents a creative dramatization of economic class divisions, using audience participation, at an event sponsored by Chicago Center for Working Class Studies.
Labor Beat: $4 A Day? No Way! {LB142.} –n–
The opression of Mexican unions is related to the growth of the Maquilladora plants. Autoworkers’ dismal conditions as they face attacks by companies and the Mexican government. Produced by American Labor Education Center. Segment time: 20 min.
Also, how the fast-track trade agreement with Mexico will cause Chicago workers’ jobs to become runaways.
Also, reasons for opposing free trade. A short produced by LIPA.
Labor Beat: 1% Is Not Enough / Congress Hotel Strike 5th Year Anniversary / Labor Beat Remembers Utah Phillips {LB553}
3 Segments
- 1. "1% Is Not Enough."
Chicago’s Teamsters Local 743 held on 7-1-08 a spirited protest demo at Friends Family Health Center calling for a fair contract, after going 3 years without one.
They were calling for protection from harassment, a grievance procedure to solve problems at work, and wage increases that keep up with inflation.
Action was called by Friends Family Teamsters, University of Chicago Teamsters, University of Chicago Hospital Teamsters, Barnes and Noble Teamsters, SEIU 73 members, student, neighborhood and clergy allies, sisters and brothers (and others).
- 2. "Congress Hotel Strike 5th Year Anniversary."
The fifth anniversary of the longest active strike in the nation. UNITEHERE Local 1 is joined by faith based, social justice and labor organizations to rally at the front doors on June 13, 2008. On-demand playback is available at laborbeat.org.
- 3. "Labor Beat Remembers Utah Phillips."
Legendary labor singer and IWW activist Utah Phillips died peacefully in his sleep on May 23, 2008. Labor Beat celebrates his memory with clips from our video archives over 20 years.
Labor Beat: 2006 Teamsters Convention {LB508}
Labor Beat presents the national cable-tv premiere of the new documentary about the 2006 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Convention, the Tom Leedham campaign for International President, and the successful fight to nominate the Leedham reform slate ("Strong Contracts, Good Pensions") running against the James Hoffa machine.
Presented in October 2006 as ballots for the national election are being mailed out. Produced by Gary Brooks for Labor Beat. DVD available, mailto:steward705@comcast.net.
Labor Beat: The 7000 -- Chicago's Hotel Contract Fight {LB407}
The dramatic contract negotiations for 7,000 members of H.E.R.E. Local 1 in Aug.-Sept. of 2002. Includes scenes of voting to authorize strike, the huge 5,000-strong march down Michigan Avenue, the countdown to the strike deadline, interviews with negotiating committee members on what happened behind the scenes, the vote to ratify the contract, and more. Narrated. 23 minutes.
Cinematographer and director Haskell Wexler says (Feb 2003): "I support the hotel workers and this video is very good. I lived in Santa Monica where the efforts of the hotel workers to unionize was opposed by a particularly vicioius management." Wexler has earned five Academy Award nominations and two Oscars for Best Cinematography. His work on films includes The Bus Riders Union, Coming Home, Matewan, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and Bound For Glory.
David Moberg wrote: "It took the wholesale transformation of a local union that had seemed terminally ill for Chicago’s hotel workers to pull off their dramatic 2002 contract victory. Labor Beat’s video--The 7,000--captures the rank-and-file spirit and enthusiasm that was sparked by their new participation in the life of the union. It also shows how detailed preparation for the possibility of a strike--by building community ties and mobilizing thousands of members for a march and contract vote--helped to win significant contract gains without an actual strike. Both union officials and hotel workers tell the story vividly and passionately.
Labor Beat: 9/11 A Crisis for Workers {LB391} –n–
Mins 27est
Labor Beat: Aaron at Erbil {LB571}
On March 13-14 an important International Labor Conference was held in Erbil, Iraq, which is in the Kurdistan region. Along with the 200 delegates from Iraqi trade unions and international unions, attending was a delegation from the U.S., comprised of representatives of U.S. Labor Against the War, and 2 representatives from Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Among those IVAW attending was Aaron Hughes, the subject of this 25 minute video.
Aaron explains why he attended the Conference, and places his return to Iraq as an anti-war veteran in the context of a similar visit by Vietnam Veterans Against the War to North Vietnam.
At the center of Aaron’s experience in Erbil is his short speech to the delegation apologizing for his role in the US military in oppressing the people of Iraq. This video is a documenting of that speech and the reactions of the audience, as well as Aaron’s anxiety about what the reactions would be.
The work of the Conference is also summarized by Aaron, enhanced with footage from Iraq Peacetv in Japan and Aaron’s own footage of the event. The experience of the Conference provides the basis of the IVAW delegate’s re-dedication of their goal of war reparations for the people and workers of Iraq.
Labor Beat: ABA You're the Worst / Showdown in Chicago / Chicago Street Sitdown for Boston Hyatt Workers {LB584}
-1- ABA, You’re the Worst
The Oct. 26, 2009 protest against the national meeting of the American Bankers Association in Chicago.
Actions, interviews, speeches. Begins at Chicago offices of Goldman Sachs (Goldman "Sucks") and then goes to the office building of Wells Fargo. There, hundreds of protesters occupy the lobby. Length 9:57.
-2- Showdown in Chicago
October 27, 2009, on the third day of protest during the national meeting in Chicago of the American Bankers Association, some 4-5 thousand labor and community activist marched down Michigan Avenue and then to the Sheraton Hotel, where the ABA was meeting, and held a protest rally.
This day of protest was called by its organizers "Showdown in Chicago: The American People vs. Wall Street Banks."
Speakers included Dennis Gannon (President, Chicago Federation of Labor), Tom Balanoff (President, SEIU Illinois Council), Richard Trumka (President, AFL-CIO), Armando Robles (President, UE 1110, of the Republic Windows plant occupation), Denise Dixon (Executive Director, Action Now).
Dixon noted, "Every 13 seconds, another home goes into foreclosure in urban areas all over the country that are already beaten down. ... Enough is enough!"
Tom Balanoff asked the rally, "why are we here today? We’re here to send a strong message to the bankers and the financiers, it’s time that they be held accountable."
-3- Chicago Street Sitdown for Boston Hyatt Workers
On Sept. 24, 2009, in front of the Chicago Ave. entrance to the Chicago Park Hyatt, hundreds of Chicago hotel workers (UNITE-HERE members) and supporters sat down in the street, in solidarity with Park Hyatt workers in Boston who were fired.
Interviews and scenes from the dramatic sitdown in the street.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfFWXVNJo6U www.blip.tv/file/2679301.
[PLAY NOW. Use http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfFWXVNJo6U . Or www.blip.tv/file/2679301].
Labor Beat: Achieve, Believe / South African Nurses {LB150}
"Achieve, Believe." The successful struggle of IBEW Local 134 to elect a reform slate to its governing board.
"South African Nurses." Interviews with South African nurses.
Labor Beat: ACTWU Convention 1987 {LB042} –n–
ACTWU Convention 1987
Mins 29:16Labor Beat: ACTWU Midwest Regional Conference 1986 {LB010} –n–
The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union invited a Labor Beat crew to make a tape about their conference. The tape documents the conference sessions on the corporate media attack on organized labor, and union strategies in response to the federally sponsored drug abuse testing program. The tape breaks new ground in showing how ACTWU members wrote and produced six video programs for their locals back home. A good look at a progressive labor union and what it is doing to stem the anti-labor tide.
Mins 26:58Labor Beat: AFGE, SEIU 46 Fight Privatization {LB322}
Three different unions’ campaigns against privatization.
* AFGE 1395, Labor Party, Metro Seniors in Action, representative of the AFL-CIO, and other organizations rally in Chicago’s Loop in April 1999 to oppose the privatization of Social Security. The slogan of the rally was "Support Mainstreet, Not Wall Street".
* SEIU Local 46 in May 1999 march and rally against privatization and contracting out of custodial jobs by Chicago Police Dept. "The City is again on the attack" against city workers.
* APWU demonstrates in Oregon against privatization of postal service. Don’t Privatize Our U.S. Postal Service". (Produced by OPEU District 4 production, Ashland, Oregon.)
Labor Beat: AFL-CIO 1995 Convention Debate {LB229} –n–
Highlights of the historic AFL-CIO convention. With coverage of the debate between Thomas R. Donahue and John Sweeney, candidates for the presidency of the AFL-CIO. Footage exclusively from the Labor Institute for Public Affairs.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The AFL-CIO's Foreign Policy and N.E.D. Money {LB479}
Prior to the AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago, rank-and-file workers held a protest and discussion about the need to reform the AFL-CIO’s foreign policy and the influence upon it from funding from the National Endowment for Democracy. Hear Kim Scipes, Labor Educator on the AFL-CIO and international politics, discuss the history of the AFL’s involvement with the foreign policy interest of American Imperialism.
Also, an interview with Fred Hirsch, long-time critic of AFL-CIO foreign policy, as he and other opponents of N.E.D. funding attended the 2005 AFL-CIO Convention
Includes scenes of floor discussion on foreign policy resolution and reactions of supporters of "Build Unity and Trust Among Workers Worldwide" resolution, including Jeff Crosby, President of North Shore (Massachusetts) Central Labor Council and member of AFL-CIO Convention Resolutions Committee.
CORRECTION: Previous information about Labor Beat’s coverage of the AFL-CIO Convention posted here contained some inaccuracies. Please disregard that earlier announcement. Watch this space for forthcoming information about new shows on the AFL-CIO Convention and related events and issues. Thank you. -Labor Beat
Labor Beat: AFL-CIO Social Security Demo / Senn HS Coalition {LB473}
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: The AFL-CIO: The Workers Must Fix It! {LB475}
A rank-and-file perspective on the debate over leadership and strategy within the AFL-CIO on the eve of its July 2005 National Convention.
Using unique historical footage, the video revisits the birth of the Sweeney regime, its promises to the rank-and-file in the 1995 labor upsurge of the War Zone in Central Illinois, and the betrayal of those promises.
Neither Sweeney nor Stern differ in any fundamental way regarding their commitment to jointism with management, history of political jointism through support for the Democratic Party, disinterest in rank-and-file democracy and input, lack of strategy for developing labor media, or lack of commitment to changing the AFL-CIO’s ties to US foreign policy.
Video by Labor Beat.
Labor Beat: The AFL-CIO, The Workers Must Fix IT [OKAY AS A MASTER] { –n–
Used for copying at 4726 for LB customers. 8 seconds of black, then Andy Stern.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: AFSCME, SEIU, ILWU {LB402} –n–
Labor Beat: AFSCME, SEIU, ILWU...
Mins 27estLabor Beat: Air and Starbucks { –n–
.
Labor Beat: Alexander Cockburn Interview / New Fall Season {LB006} –n–
The first part of this tape is an interview with Alexander Cockburn, columnist for The Nation and the Wall Street Journal, following his speech criticizing the major media’s coverage of Nicaragua, at DePaul University. In the interview Cockburn focuses on the media’s negative impact on the labor movement, and suggests some interesting answers to the questions that corporate media poses for labor.
The second part of the tape is a dramatization of the role of labor relations "experts" in labor/management disputes. The New Fall Season draws on an authentic chronicle of corporate anti-union strategies, and focuses on the recent federally sponsored, drug abuse testing program. Important for a rank and file understanding of just how labor relations strategists "think" and how they use the media to influence public opinion.
Labor Beat: All for One / Motown Hits the Road {LB267}
"All for One." Global solidarity against deregulation in docking. International resistance to privatization.
On January 20, 1997, workers in ports around the world - from Tokyo to San Francisco to Stockholm - staged actions in support of Liverpool dockworkers locked out by the Mersey Docks Co. Protests and work stoppages in unity with the dockworkers locked-out a year and a half earlier for opposing deregulation and unpaid overtime.
Scenes include: Liverpool cranes occupied to bring operations to a halt; the port of Stockholm at a standstill; an interview with a representative of the Svenska Hamnarbetarforbundet; a protest at the Ooi port, Tokyo; an interview with the president of Tokyo Docker’s Union Council; an ILWU protest at the British Consulate in San Francisco as part of actions shutting down West Coast US ports. Also released as Labor Beat video GV9 GV009.
"Motown Hits the Road." Labor Beat’s coverage of a Chicago demonstration (at the Winston and Strawn law firm) to oppose corporate attacks on the locked-out Detroit newspaper workers. 200 Chicago-area and Detroit unionists launched a boycott USA Today campaign and announced Action! Motown ’97 plans for June, 1997.
Labor Beat: All Power to the People {LB069+} –n–
Commemorates the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Fred Hampton, Black Panther leader, in Chicago. Interviews with friends and associates of Hampton.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Amadila Intifada {LB423} –n–
A documentary on the Palestinian struggle, with scenes from June 02, 2003 Israeli military occupation of Jenin.
Amandla Intifada, by its title, compares the fight against apartheid in South Africa with the fight against Zionist apartheid in Palestine.
Included with the documentary is a Labor Beat interview with Ahmed Bensouda of Chicago Al-Awda (http://al-awda.org/chicago) discussing later developments.
Labor Beat: America Resisting {LB130} –n–
Documents the effects of the Gulf War on working people and minorities. New York are unions march against the war.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: America's Other Dirty War {LB455}
.
Mins 29estLabor Beat: Angela Davis on the Prison/Industrial Complex {LB363}
Internationally-known activist Angela Davis spoke in Chicago in December, 2000, on the subject of the growing ’prison/industrial complex.’
First broadcast Jan. 25, CAN-TV Channel 19, Chicago.
Labor Beat: Anne Feeney in Champaign / Who Is Harry Kelber? {LB500}
1. Anne Feeney Champaign Illinois appearance.
2. Labor activist veteran Harry Kelber.
Labor Beat: Anne Feeney - Songs of Struggle at the Heartland Café {LB551}
Internationally acclaimed labor folk musician Anne Feeney entertains her fans at Chicago’s Heartland Cafe on May 18, 2008. Find out more about Anne Feney’s music at www.annefeeney.com.
Mins 28Labor Beat: Anti-Barak Protest at UIC Pavilion {LB361}
When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak showed up at the gala opening of the United Jewish Communities General Assembly at the UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) Pavilion in November, 2000, thousands of Arab-Americans from community groups in the Midwest were there demanding an end to U.S. support for the Israeli government’s continuing repression of the Palestinians.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: Anti-Nike Rally / Nike Ad Parody / Michael Moore on Nike {LB297}
Responses to the growing public anger against sweat-shop exploitation at Nike. Three segments:
- The April 18, 1998, demonstration against Nike (and to protest NAFTA) at the Nike store on Chicago’s Michigan Ave. This demo was organized by Chicago Jobs with Justice and Nicaragua Solidarity Committee among others. Includes statements from Jobs with Justice, CLUW, etc.
- Our spoof on the Nike "I can" ads. You were probably sickened by this ad, as was labor cartoonist Mike Konopacki, who sent us an idea on how to spoof it. By Labor Beat videographer Jinny Keller.
- Michael Moore spoke at a benefit for the locked-out/striking Detroit newspaper workers, after a showning of his new film The Big One. Moore takes a few minutes to share his low opinion of Nike, which is also one of the targets of the film.
Labor Beat: Anti-war / Killer Coke / IBEW Protest {LB447}
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Mins 29estLabor Beat: Anti-war / Killer Coke / IBEW Protest {LB447}
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Mins 29est
Labor Beat: Are You A Teamster? The Tom Leedham 2006 Campaign {LB494}
This half-hour tv show, produced by Labor Beat, follows Tom Leedham (the 2006 rank-and-file challenger to Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. for IBT General President) during his March 2006 campaigning in the Chicago area. It includes his stump speech in which he outlines campaign issues.
Also, in an interview, Leedham discusses the AFL-CIO split, Andy Stern’s labor-management model for the Change To Win coalition, and the UPS strike.
Labor Beat: Arizona and Immigrant Rights {LB603}
"Society as a whole has been subjected to a system of oppression where corporate profits are the number one rule and that is something that we have to keep in mind as we struggle for the rights of immigrants. In the end, it’s not just about the rights of immigrants, it’s about the right to a decent way of life for every person...." -- Oscar Chacón.
"We were not responsible for so many factories closing down here..... If anybody has stolen jobs from people in the United States, it has been the corporations, with of course the help of the U.S. Government that even helped them [companies] close down here and establish factories overseas." -- Jorge Mujica
"[The new Arizona Law says] if a school teacher takes her children on a school trip, and if one of her children is undocumented -- they get pulled over because they make an illegal left turn -- she can then be subject to prison, to be arrested, for that one undocumented child in her school bus." -- Isaac Medrano
Leaders and activists in the Mexican and Latino community discuss the Arizona "virus" of racism and oppression directed against immigrants in the U.S., and how working people can oppose these attacks.
Panelists are: Jorge Mujica, March 10 Committee, immigrant rights leader; Oscar Chacón, Executive Director, National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities; Isaac Medrano. Indiana Director, Reform Immigration for America.
Recorded from the June 25, 2010 live show to the Internet and cable.
Labor Beat: Arne Duncan and the Done Deal / Bill Davis on Military Recruiters {LB466}
1. Arne Duncan and the Done Deal. An edited-down piece about what essentially happened at the Dec. 9, 2005 Senn H.S. Community "dialogue" with Arne Duncan over the proposa for Senn as a Naval Academyl
The core of the segment is when Duncan (Mayor Daley’s puppet on the School Board) is interrogated (nailed down) to where he admits basically that he has already made up his mind about how the School Board is going to vote on Dec. 15. So Senn H.S. supporters that night learned that there wasn’t going to be any process’ of ’sharing’ views and ’democratically’ arriving at a decision. It was a done deal.
One revelation follows another as we watch Democrat Congresswoman Jan Shakowski bare her bourgeois fangs and declare that she had "no philosophical objection to having a Navy Academy at Senn High School." The footage shows the significant development of Shakowski getting booed and hissed by her core demographic.
This show, combined with our recent show on the big CFL-sponsored rally of city workers demanding a contract, illustrates how Democratic Party politicians, lined up at the national, city, and ward level, are ganging up on Chicago’s working families.
2. Bill Davis on Military Recruiters. A talk at a 2005 Chicago Labor Against the War forum given by the VVAW national coordinator (who is also president of Machinist Local 701, but not appearing in that capacity). Davis dwells upon how the military tries unscrupulously to recruit youth.
Labor Beat: Artists and Change {LB064?}
Panel discussion moderated by Warren Leming on the changing role of artists as workers in society. With artists Lucy Wyatt, David Cetkor, Duncan Mitchell.
Mins 26:00Labor Beat: Ashes {LB427} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Ask for An RN / Staley Sit-Down {LB194}
"Ask for An RN." The Illinois Nurses Assn. demonstrates at Cook County Hospital against reductions in the nursing staff.
"Staley Sit-Down." Staley workers sit down at the Decatur IL plant gate, June 4, 1994.
Labor Beat: Back to the Border / The Power of Sisterhood {LB280} –n–
Organize Borders Books. An encore presentation (cf. show LB257 available from Labor Beat) to commemorate finally winning a contract at Border’s Bookstore in Chicago.
Also, CLUW: The Power of Sisterhood. A Labor Institute for Public Affairs production about the Coalition for Labor Union Women. 15 minutes.
Labor Beat: Back To Iraq: State of the Sanctions 2002 {LB409} –n–
"Back To Iraq: State of the Sanctions 2002," by Portland (OR)’s Dan Handelman, who spent 8 days in Iraq with a delegation from Voices in the Wilderness (VitW) which delivered medicine and toys to hospitals, families and children.
Three Americans and four British members of VitW witnessed conditions in Iraq after 11-1/2 years of the sanctions. The 18-minute video of Iraq includes interviews with Iraqi doctors and citizens, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Tun Myat, and Columbia University professor Richard Garfield. It also shows images from within Iraqi hospitals, tours of water and sewage treatment plants, and two civilian sites bombed during the 1991 "Gulf War." It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died as a direct result of the bombing and sanctions.
"Back to Iraq" is preceded by a brief 4-min. segment on an anti-war march in Chicago.
This video is not for sale by Labor Beat, but VHS copies of the show are available for a suggested donation of $9 plus $4 postage (please allow a few days for duplication and handling). FLYING FOCUS VIDEO COLLECTIVE. ffvc@agora.rdrop.com. 3439 NE Sandy Bv PMB #248, Portland, OR 97232. www.rdrop.com/~ffvc, (503) 321-5051
Labor Beat: Banana Workers {LB405} –n–
The banana workers ...
Mins 27est
Labor Beat: Barbarians Behind the Gates -- Protest against School of the Americas 2002 {LB412}
Labor Beat coverage of the big 2002 turnout against the School of the Americas (or whatever the hell they’re calling it these days) in Georgia.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: Battle at the Boardroom Doors {LB462}
This show documents what happened when the Chicago City Colleges Board tried to prevent union members, students and supporters from entering the board room for a public meeting on the strike.
The teachers and supporters were told initially that they couldn’t enter because the room was at maximum occupancy, but the Labor Beat camera disproves that. Viewers will be astonished to see Vice Chancellor Donahue clearly removing the maximum occupancy sign so nobody would know what the maximum legal number was.
Some may wonder whether removing such a sign is illegal. In any event, it’s a shame that a CCC Vice Chancellor would set such an example for students in this way.
The show demonstrates the principled and dramatic stand the teachers union took in fighting for their right to enter the board room.
Labor Beat: The Battle for Hearts and Minds {LB191} –n–
A video on jointism and productivity circles. By Canadian Labor Congress.
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: Battle Front Wisconsin {LB619}
The struggle that has captured the imagination of union members across the nation.
The newest Labor Beat episode "Battle Front Wisconsin" covers the ongoing fightback in Madison. There, a right-wing state government is attempting to gut public sector unions by stripping them of collective bargaining rights, membership, dues collection, and a host of other attacks on what it means to be in a union.
Teachers, municipal workers, students, and their supporters (even police and firefighters) have rallied constantly to demand "Kill The Bill."
Labor Beat producer Andrew Friend spoke with union activists, University of Wisconsin students, and those showing their solidarity in what is shaping up to be the opening battle in an interstate war for workers’ rights. Hi-def.
Labor Beat: Battle Lines on the Docks {LB406} –n–
A video from PepperSpray (IMC) in Seattle on recent ILWU labor rally.
PepperSpray writes: "This is the rally footage, presenting the longshore case through speeches and interviews cut together, with the Anti-Fascist Marching Band thrown in. B-roll is marching workers, motorcycles, and a great collection of t-shirts. Speeches are edited to keep the concentrate the good stuff, and it is good, building past the issues and bravado of what they will do if the troops are called out, to an emotional finish."
"This generation of Longshoremen have not really been tested in a contract strike, but since they tend to pass their union card down from father to son, many of them have been raised on stories of the docks and the big battles of yesteryear. They know full well that now it is their turn, and that how they do will go down in family history, just like their fathers and grandfathers actions are the legends they grew up on. Meanwhile Bush seems to want to make the ILWU the PATCO of this era (Pres. Reagan fired the air traffic controllers, brought in the military to land the planes, and broke the strike. Later the white house bragged that it was a lesson for all government workers.)"
This video is not for sale by Labor Beat. For ordering information, contact PepperSpray at: randyro@attbi.com
Huge labor march for ILWU in Seattle, WA (Photo credit: PepperSpray)
[The following press release was issued late afternoon, Monday, Sept. 30th on the letterhead of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. It contains the remarks to the national and international media by ILWU President James Spinosa at a press conference held at 12 noon at the ILWU headquarters in San Francisco. (See attachment.) At the time this statement was made to the press, the Pacific Maritime Association, the employers’ group. was scheduled to meet two hours later with the ILWU at the bargaining table. At the last moment, however, the PMA broke off negotiations and refused to attend the bargaining session. ]
For Immediate Release: September 30, 2002. Contact: Steve Stallone 415-775-0533 x114 or 510-390-4748 or Jeremy Prillwitz 415-286-0555
ILWU President James Spinosa Speaks Out, We Want to Go Back to Work, Back to the Table
JAMES SPINOSA: I want to thank you all for coming. I think it’s imperative that the ILWU gets a very clear and responsive response to what’s been happening on this West Coast and particularly in our ports. As many of you know, and I think the world knows, that the ILWU has been locked out by the Pacific Maritime Association. It has been locked out as far as we are concerned, unjustly. This Union has been bargaining in good faith since May 13th and has gone nowhere in this set of bargaining, due to what we feel is an irresponsible approach to bargaining by the Pacific Maritime Association. The Association and the Employers group have put forward a proposal package early on in May that was designed to fail. It was designed to fail for many reasons. As you all know, if you look back at that time frame, PMA, going into bargaining was talking about lock-out, the very thing we find ourselves in today, which is nothing more than intimidation for all those out there. The ILWU will not be intimidated. We will not move into a contract that is not desirable of our workforce and their efforts. Saying that, the ILWU continues to put forward the best effort and is willing to meet, as we have been meeting, even though we find ourselves in an undesirable position, we will continue to make every effort to get ourselves a contract in this set of bargaining, and we will continue to do so.
We find ourselves locked out, fighting the PMA, who has talked so many times about the controls that we both must have in this set of bargaining, because of the economic situation that this country finds itself in, and then turns around and does just the opposite, turns around and locks out the West Coast and imperils the economy. The Union is very unhappy about this set of circumstances, what it does is, it brings a position forward throughout the world, that there could be some type of irresponsibility in this set of negotiations on behalf of this Union. This Union has been a responsible union; we have been responsible for over 30 years without imperiling the economic situation in our country. We have been able to obtain a contract for the past 30 years without any economic problem to our country and we continue to try to do that in this bargaining.
Also, since 9/11, if you look at what’s happened since 9/11 in this set of bargaining, the Union has approached the Employers on many occasions, putting forward demands and proposals that would ask them to participate with this Union in securing the ports, making the ports, so that anybody that enters the ports, or any type of cargo that enters the ports, would be monitored to the point that we would try to do our best to be the first line of defense for anything that may happen like 9/11 again. The Employers refused to participate in any such activity with us. We have asked that a dozen times now. We have gone to Washington, DC and we have gone alone. It’s time for the Employers to step up and understand that national security is something far beyond this set of bargaining that this country needs and something they should join with this Union in efforts to try to achieve.
The bargaining itself centered around technology. The Employers have opened up that technology was their No. One proposal. As it turns out to be, the Employers themselves have moved away from technology, even though they tried to hold this particular bargaining session hostage to a technology package that they cannot deliver. They cannot deliver it for many reasons. They are not prepared to deal with turning over the jobs that remain in the industry and any new jobs that are created that will take this industry forward to this Union; the jobs that are functionally equivalent to our work and they are under obligation to this Union to do. The Union has stepped up, the Union has told the Employers over and over again, "we will meet you in the middle, we will allow for free flow of information, we will allow for technology to move forward," so that we would strengthen our position in the global market, on the West Coast, in these ports, providing that you meet us halfway on the jobs that are necessary to be done, that are left to be done in this industry. The Employers cannot deliver that, they refuse to deliver that, their latest proposal has been," we really didn’t mean that we want to turn over the jobs to your Union, what we really meant is that we want to buy your workforce out". Totally unacceptable to the ILWU; we will not move along those lines, not now, not ever in the future. What we are looking for in this set of bargaining are jobs, jobs that remain in the industry, jobs that are ours under the contract and the Employers have got to step up to the table, if they want to see those West Coast ports resume their activities like they have in the past.
Other than that, I let you know that we have contacted the military and we have told the military that our obligation to this country and to our military effort is one that we will not move away from, that we make ourselves available, we will continue to make ourselves available, anything our country needs in the interests of national defense, this Union will provide. Whether they order manpower or not, we will work those ships on behalf of our nation and especially in time of need. We have endorsed that for a lifetime, being union members of this ILWU. It’s up to the Employers now to open up this set of talks and to open them up with a program that says, "let’s get a contract". Let’s put a legitimate contract forward, one that deals with jurisdiction, one that deals with technology and the benefits that this union needs to move forward. Until that happens, this Union will continue to resist any move by the Employers that continues to erode our work or move work away from us. So, that ball is in their park. We tell Mr. Miniace and the Pacific Maritime Association, "it’s time to put up or shut up". That’s where we’re at.
Labor Beat: The Battle of Homestead -- A Walking Tour {LB315} –n–
Visit the famous pumping house, locus of the Battle of Homestead in the 1890s, and listen to labor historian Charlie McAlister talk about this significant event in American labor history. This walking tour was taped during the Labor Party convention in Pittsburgh in November, 1998. Produced by OPEU Dist. 4 in Ashland, OR.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Big Cat Fight {LB139}
Dynamic rank-and-file footage of the giant UAW rally against Caterpillar in Peoria, Illinois. Picket lines in Peoria and Aurora, Illinois. Car caravan.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Bill FletcherSpeaks at Labor Party Dinner {LB399} –n–
Bill Fletcher, former special assistant to AFL-CIO President Sweeney, discusses the labor movement as he addresses a June 25, 2002, May Day dinner hosted by the Chicago Metro Labor Party.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: Billikin / Air and War Show {LB557}
-1- First, scenes and interviews from the Bud Billikin 2008 parade in Chicago to remind students that school is about to start. But one Chicago school teacher wonders: where is the Chicago Teachers Union?
-2- The second segment covers the informational protest by anti-war activists at the recent 2008 Air and Water (War) show in Chicago. The police are there to help this costly military advertisement flex its muscles on the beach, while the bill of rights gets sand kicked in its face.
Labor Beat: Billy Bragg: Whose Side Are You On? {LB093+} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Billy Club Convention {LB066} –n–
The 1968 Democratic National Convention is recalled at events in Chicago twenty years later. Abbey Hoffman and other main figures appear.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Blowing the Whistle on UPS {LB282} –n–
A good overview of the 1997 UPS strike and strike issues. Includes discussion on part-time work. Janine Jackson (FAIR) hosts, with Ann Marie O’Neil (shop steward, part-timer Teamsters/UPS worker) and David Pratt (TDU/Teamster member). Produced by Labor X in New York City (http://www.ashp.cuny/Laborx.html").
Mins 29:44Labor Beat: Bob Grant -- An Oral History {LB056.}
A discussion with Bob Grant, truck driver and founding member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. 12/30/1988.
Mins 29:53Labor Beat: Boicoteamos! / Chicago Women in the Trades {LB163}
"Boicoteamos!" Oregon farmworkers organize a boycott.
"Chicago Women in the Trades." CWT orients women for future work as carpenters, bricklayers, and electricians.
Labor Beat: The Bolivarian Revolution: Enter the Oil Workers! {LB464}
Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter, yet 80% of its population (mainly people of African and Indigenous descent) live in poverty. Since Hugo Chavez was elected to use the oil revenue to eliminate poverty, there have been many attempts by the white elite and their Washington friends to overthrow his government.
In these unique interviews, oil workers - women and men - tell how and why they saved their industry from a CIA-backed coup, how they see their struggle in relation to other working class people in the world, and how they are organizing with the community and the military to "put the oil industry at the service of humanity".
For sale at $10: "The Bolivarian Revolution: Enter the Oil Workers!" (34 mins). Contact: Global Women’s Strike Bolivarian Circle at (215) 848 -1120. philly@crossroadswomen.net. www.globalwomenstrike.net
Labor Beat: The Bombing of Sadr City / Iraq Freedom Congress {LB581} –n–
- 1. Very few US television viewers have seen the kind of footage presented in the "Bombing of Sadr City", which has been edited down to fit our Labor Beat time slot. This is, in fact, the US tv premiere of this video.
It records the events in May, 2008 in Sadr City, Iraq as US shells strike civilian areas. Sana TV, an Iraqi tv organization, shot this footage during the attack, and during the dramatic arrival and treatment of the attack’s victims at a local hospital.
There is no corporate network commentator filtering the images from us in a studio thousands of miles away, telling us what to think; we learn what the people themselves think as they are caught in the midst of the attack.
- 2. The second half of the show is a press conference (again, edited down to fit Labor Beat’s time slot) by Iraq Freedom Congress (http://www.ifcongress.com/English/), which produces Sana TV.
The IFC is a pro-union, pro-women’s, pro-students’ rights organization in Iraq which is not part of any religious current, but instead calls for a secular Iraqi society. The IFC calls for the immediate exit of the US troops by means of a political struggle. English subtitles.
Labor Beat: Bombs Away {LB295?} –n–
Protesters at a big arms bazaar, as covered by working tv (no caps) of Vancouver, Canada.
Mins 29:05Labor Beat: Brecht Centennial {LB296?} –n–
Bertoldt Brecht the playwright. 100 years.
Mins 29:25Labor Beat: Brecht Documentary {LB030.} –n–
A look at the German writer, playwright, director and theorist Bertolt Brecht. Shot in East Germany, L.A., and West Berlin, the tape presents an unusual view of Brecht’s home. Dramatizations based on his life, including a series of vignettes written and directed by Labor Beat producer Warren Leming.
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: Brewing Solidarity {LB510}
- Brewing Solidarity. A Profile on the IWW-Starbucks Workers Union
This new video by Andrew Friend spotlights the new IWW-Starbucks Union at Logan Square, a neighborhood on Chicago’s north side. Interviews with baristas Christine Morgan and Joe Tessone show why they decided to form a union and what happened next ....
- This Labor Beat show adds a 4-minute segment by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers about a day in the life of "Ronaldo McDonald" working in the tomato fields.
Labor Beat: BTR -- The Longest Strike {LB058?} –n–
A documentary on a strike by South African Workers against British Tire and Rubber. Covers a workers’ solidarity tour to England.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Budget Cuts {LB144} –n–
An examination of cutbacks in services to the disabled in Madison, Wisconsin. Also, a look at privatization of a Milwaukee museum, how it affects labor, and how labor responds.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Busch Beer Workers {LB299.} –n–
Highlights of a studio discussion by Anheuser-Busch workers about the dispute with the big beermaker. Produced by LaborVision in St. Louis.
Mins 29:20Labor Beat: Canadian Labor Looks At Free Trade {LB177} –n–
Analysis from Canadian viewpoints. Workers disenchanted with the Free Trade agreement with the U.S. and how it eroded Canadian workers’ living standards.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Canadian Labor TV {LB279} –n–
An excellent cook’s tour of labor tv and radio in Canada, and of the issues affecting some grassroots productions. Produced by working tv (no caps) in Vancouver, BC.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Canadian National Health Plan, A Model for the U.S. {LB158} –n–
Doctors and health care workers discuss Canadian vs. U.S. health care programs.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Canary Fights Back--Part 1 of 2 {LB123} –n–
Health and safety issues. Produced by Deep Dish.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Canary Fights Back--Part 2 of 2 {LB124} –n–
Health and safety issues. Produced by Deep Dish.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Car Caravan / Freedom At Work {LB444}
Labor Beat covered the Feb. 21, 2004 car caravan through Chicago’s north side, ending on Devon Avenue, a Pakistani neighborhood.
The caravan was organized to protest attacks on immigrants, the reactionary Patriot Act, the occupation of Iraq and other excesses against human rights.
The second segment of the show is a new video from The Rhode Island Institute for Labor Studies and Research on the topic of "Freedom at Work" , produced for students and workers about their rights at work.
Labor Beat: Caterpillar--The Story of A Plant Occupation {LB143} –n–
Autoworkers in Canada occupy a Caterpillar plant that management has threatened to close. An inside documentary produced for Canadian Broadcasting by Barna-Alper in collaboration with Canadian Auto Workers.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Cat Strike Chronicles {LB206} –n–
Selections from the Mountainclimber labor tv show in Peoria, Illinois. A union local produces its own coverage of the Caterpillar strike.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Cesar Chavez Speaks, 4/15/93 {LB169.}
Chavez’ last major public appearance. Taped by members of IBEW Local 134. Captioned.
Mins 28:28Labor Beat: Challenge to Organized Labor Conference / NABET Strike at NBC {LB019.}
Challenge to Organized Labor. This televised conference brought together union organizers from all over the U.S. to discuss strike-breaking, unemployment and a myriad of issues affecting organized labor. The tape should alert unionists to the implications of divestment, scab schools and new corporate strategies. Participants include: Members of P9, a local of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union in Austin, MN; a president of the National Homeless Union; and members of the United Auto Workers, among others.
Committee for Labor Access producer/interviewer Larry Duncan discusses the Tribune strike in Chicago and the strategies which led to a massive rally drawing 18,000 trade unionists in support of the Tribune strike (with footage of the rally). Segment time: 20 min.
Also, The NABET Strike at NBC. The summer 1987 National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians strike at NBC. A day-to-day chronicle of the NABET strike from its inception, featuring interviews with NABET members, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Mayor Harold Washington. Discusses General Electric’s takeover of NBC and its repercussions for the union and the public. Segment time: 10 min.
Labor Beat: Charles Kerighan Talks to Students on Anti-Sweatshop {LB351}
Charles Kerighan Talks to Students on Anti-Sweatshop
Mins 28:53Labor Beat: The Charleston Five, Ken Riley {LB375} –n–
Ken Riley, President of ILA Local 1422, Discusses Charleston 5 Campaign
(show includes a brief introductory speech by Barbara Ingalls, Detroit Newspaper worker) Riley’s speech, and Ingall’s, made during the recent Labor Notes Conference in Detroit.
CAN-TV Channel 19, Chicago Thurs., 9:30 pm, July 12 Fri. 4:30 pm, July 13 Thurs., 9:30 pm, July 19 Fri. 4:30 pm, July 20
This video is not for sale by Labor Beat.
Labor Beat: Charleston Five Ken Riley in Chicago {LB379} –n–
Ken Riley, President of ILA Local 1422, discusses the campaign for the Charleston 5. This show included a brief introductory speech by Barbara Ingalls, a Detroit newspaper worker. Riley’s speech and Ingall’s were made at a Labor Notes Conference in Detroit.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Cheap and Mean {LB424} –n–
HERE Local 1’s protest action in May at the Congress Hotel against management’s demanded give-backs. Show includes HERE’s documentary about last year’s contract battle with Chicago hotels.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: Chicago '68 and SDS Remembered {LB049}
Former Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organizer for the Chicago ’68 Democratic Convention demonstrations, Wayne Heimbach returns to Grant Park where it all happened 20 years ago. Details origin of SDS and objectives at Democratic Convention. This is not what you got from the networks’ analyses on the 20th anniversary. With dramatic cut-away historic footage.
Mins 30:00Labor Beat: Chicago Anti-War Protest {LB382?}
Labor Beat coverage of the large Chicago anti-war protest of Sept. 29, 2001.
Also, scenes from the June 2001 Teamsters convention and Tom Leedham supporters at the floor mike.
Labor Beat: Chicago Area Han-Young Solidarity / Mickey Mouse Is A Rat {LB308.} –n–
1) UAW Local 1268 (Chrysler’s Belvidere, Illinois, plant) and the Campaign for Labor Rights target Hyundai dealerships and the Mexican consul in the Chicago area. Their campaign exposes the failure of NAFTA provisions to protect workers at the Han-Young plant in Tijuana (which supplies parts only to Hyundai).
2) Dramatic video verite footage of union ’election’ which Han-Young held, and which was exposed as rigged. See footage of management people voting for a company union. Produced by Labor Link TV in San Diego.
3) "Mickey Mouse Is A Rat" covers a November 1998 demonstration called by the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) to protest ABC/Disney’s lock out.
4) A new NABET lockout music video.
Labor Beat: Chicago City Workers Rally / Iraqi Trade Unions {LB465}
1. Chicago City Workers Rally. The rather large city unions protest across the street from City Hall on Dec. 14, 2004. Decrying the fact that city unions (custodians, firefighters, crossing guards, streets and san workers, etc.) had been working without a contract for 18 months, union leaders and selected members tore into Mayor Daley.
Hear the high points of the speeches edited down to about 15 minutes. The impact comes from the energy and sustained intensity of a very real anger (something totally lost in the 15-second bite that the local stations gave to this), combined with genuine, open contempt for Mayor Daley. Dennis Gannon (Chicago Fed. of Labor head) leads the "Dump Daley!" chants.
2. Iraqi Trade Unions. This is a speech given by U.S. Labor Against the War co-convenor Gene Bruskin at a late 2004 labor anti-war meeting in London. Useful insights into the international campaign to defend Iraqi trade unions under the puppet government and continuing U.S. occupation.
Labor Beat: Chicago College Counselors Fight / Portland Custodians Vs. Privatization {LB394}
(1) Student Protest at City Hall against City Colleges firing all of their counselors.
2) Portland, Oregon SEIU 140 mobilization to stop privatization of school custodians.
Labor Beat: Chicago-Gary Homeless Union / San Francisco Maritime Militants {LB013} –n–
- "The 51st Ward." It is estimated that up to 50,000 people are homeless in Chicago, like a full unrepresented city ward.
Unrepresented and victimized, their story sensationalized or distorted by the press, America’s homeless are beginning to organize. The discussion on this tape points up the ever-growing gap between the have’s and have not’s and reveals some of the results of the Reagan-inspired attack on social welfare programs. The tape startlingly portrays the depth of dislocation in the midst of media-promoted happy talk.
Tape also contains a brief look at a San Francisco maritime strike. Workers question the role of union officials out of step with a militant, activist rank and file.
Prod. by Al Stein. Edted by Al Sten and arry Duncan. Rleased apr17, 1987.
- LB Opener v1.0? 42 sec. ’ want a labor access channel’ - Five minute excerpt of maritime workers striking Todd shipping in San Francisco, from an "On the Job" show.
Labor Beat: Chicago Gary Homeless Union / Shipyard Strike (excerpt) {LB013} –n–
#LB013. Disk ..09016 can have some unwanted pauses. Player problem or content problem?
Mins 29:40
Labor Beat: Chicago Hotel Workers {LB614}
One Day Strike at Palmer House Hilton, plus two other segments featuring Chicago’s hotel workers.
-1- One Day Strike at Palmer House Hilton UNITE HERE Local 1 hotel workers hold a one-day strike at Chicago’s landmark Palmer House Hilton. They talk about big workload increases and layoffs the Hilton company is trying to force the workers to accept, this while working without a contract for 15 months.
-2- Mop March for Chicago Hyatt Hotel Housekeepers To dramatize excessive workloads, housekeepers and labor community supporters march with mops and buckets up to the entrance of the Hyatt to explain that they were there to help the housekeepers do their work. They were not allowed in, but they made their point.
-3- The 2002 Averted Strike of Chicago Hotel Workers [excerpt] Excerpts from our Labor Beat documentary "The 7,000". The huge march down Michigan Avenue, the countdown to the strike deadline, the last minute negotiations to avert the strike, the vote to ratify the contract. A testament to the power of the union and the rank-and-file.
Labor Beat: Chicago MayDay 2000 / SAG-AFTRA Strike / Globalization and Greed {LB346}
"Chicago MayDay 2000." The rain couldn’t stop thousands of protesters from taking the MayDay 2000 message to a number of locations in Chicago’s Loop: march up Michigan Ave. to Art Institute, Tribune Plaza, and over to City Hall. Labor Beat covers the day’s events, with interviews and speeches on Day Labor, May Day history, amnesty for undocumented Workers, anti-’gang’ ordinance, more. (12 minutes segment)
"SAG-AFTRA Strike." Labor Beat interviews SAG-AFTRA member on picket line on May Day in Chicago.
"Jim Hightower comments on Globalization and Greed." Hightower first gets an introduction by Baldemar Velasquez (President of Farm Labor Organizing Commitee). Hightower, the host of the national "Chat ’n Chew" radio show, speaks at the recent Open World Conference in San Francisco. He treats us to an "Aunt Eula" pig story and makes other observations.
Labor Beat: Chicago Muzahaira {LB418}
Pakistani Neighborhood Protest - No War! Stop Attacks on Immigrants!
On Feb. 15, 2003 while massive anti-war demonstrations were taking place in NY and SF, a significant march and rally took place in a Chicago Pakistani neighborhood in solidarity with the day’s global actions. A broad coalition (almost 100 organizations) planned the event not to compete with NY, but to compliment the national actions by giving folks in Chicago who couldn’t go away for two days a place to come together. And a key decision was made not to hold it downtown, but in a northside neighborhood deeply affected by government intimidation of Pakistani immigrants. The chemistry of the march was entirely different than ones held in the Loop, by taking place where working people and immigrants live.
Nearly 7,000 marchers turned out in the 5 degree F windchill cold (we checked with the weather bureau).
"Muzahaira" (accent on the second syllable) is the Urdu (Pakistan’s main language) word for "demonstration". But the Devon Ave. neighborhood is also populated by Indians and Russian immigrants. The organizations planning the event (with a significant participation from Pakistani and other Islamic/Arabic community groups) wanted to make it as broad as possible, so there was a healthy spectrum of the city’s communities, with Puerto Rican, Indian, Jewish anti-Zionists speakers, for example. Korean drum dancers cleared the way for the big purple banner at the front of the march.
And labor was represented too. Speaking were Pete DeMay, of Chicago Labor Against the War and Organizer Chicago Central States for UNITE, as well as Aedvina Piñeda, Vice Pres. Laundry Workers Local 969, UNITE.
Other speakers include: Ali Bakhtiari, General Secretary Pakistani-American Democratic Forum; Bitta Mostufi, Iraq Peace Team of Voices in the Wilderness; Rafeeq Jaber, Former President United American Muslim Association; Emma Lozano, Centro Sin Fronteras; Sister Dorothy Pagosa, 8th Day Center for Justice and anti-SOA activist; Mujeeb Khan, Not in Our Name Blue Triangle; and more.
Yes, the marches in NY and London were amazing, but the "muzahaira" on Devon Ave. on Feb. 15 showed that the movement against the war (and a lot of other stuff) is in the neighborhood. Video includes street interviews, scenes, music, the march, and excerpts from a selection of the speeches.
Labor Beat: Chicago Protests 5 Years of War / Trade Union Movement in Iraq {LB547}
1. Chicago Protests 5 Years of War. The March 19, 2008 rally and march in Chicago for Troops Home Now, Stop Funding the War.
Edited scenes, and interviews from the spirited action, with Rich Berg (IBT 743), Jorge Mujica (March 10 Coalition), Beauty Turner (community activist), Andy Thayer (CCAWR), Chris Ardent (IVAW), Chicago Media Action, student anti-war, more. Labor Beat and Labor Express endorsed the Chicago march. Reports were posted at www.chicagomassaction.org. 14 minutes.
2. Trade Union Movement in Iraq. Gene Bruskin, of U.S. Labor Against the War, gives a short, informative talk on the trade union movement in Iraq. Videotaped in 2003. 14 minutes.
Labor Beat: Chicago Protests The War at Home and The War Abroad - March 19, 2005 {LB471}
As Thousands of anti-Iraq war protesters attempted to conduct peaceful marches in Chicago on March 19, 2005 they were met by massive police intimidation. Robo cops moved in to shut down the protest press conference at Michigan and Oak streets.
Chris Geovanis, speaking to the gathering, declared: "We hold Chicago Mayor Daley responsible for abolishing our constitutional rights to free speech and assembly, for abolishing our rights to peacefully oppose this war.There was no reason for him to adopt this hostile posture to peaceful protest against this war. What should have been a conversation about the disastrous consequences of this war has become a battle for essential civil liberties, and Daley made that fight, and Daley is the one who has disgraced the tradition of public speech, public assembly, and a vibrant process of dissent in this town. I’m ashamed for my city today, and I fear for all of us."
Scenes include the arrest of Andy Thayer at the Michigan Ave. press conference, and the protest at Leo Burnett.
Caption 1: Pat Vogel, mother of 23-year-old Army reservist in Iraq, getting arrested as a supporter of the March 19 anti-war actions. Credit: Steve Dalber/Labor Beat
Caption 2: Chicago cops slapping iron on Andy Thayer as he peacefully addresses the protest press conference. Credit: Martin Conlisk/Labor Beat
Caption 3: Andy Thayer discusses the political implications of March 19 and the dramatic erosion of First Amendment rights on the streets of Chicago. Credit: Larry Duncan/Labor Beat
Labor Beat: Chicago Protests WTO {LB335}
A Chicago demonstration was timed to coincide with the December, 1999, protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization.
"We are not against international trade, and we are not against the global economy. They are not really the issue. The issue is ’Who is going to make the rules, and who is going to benefit?’", declared Lynn Talbott of UNITE.
Other groups taking part included: Illinois Fair Trade Campaign, AFSC, DSA, YDS, National Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, Jobs with Justice, Eighth Day Center for Justice, Jubilee Economics Ministries, and Citywide Coalition Against Sweatshops (including Students Against Sweatshops from University of Chicago, DePaul, and Loyola), Su Casa, Catholic Worker, Columbia Support Network, and Labor Party.
Also, a segment with two speakers at a Canadian protest meeting against WTO: Tony Clark, Polaris Institute; and Maude Barlow, Council of Canadians.
For your own VHS copy, please send your address, the show title, and a $20 check or money order to: Labor Beat, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607. Www.wwa.com/~bgfolder/lb.
Labor Beat: Chicago Rally for The People of Egypt / Labor Stands with Subpoenaed Activists / Iraq Protests the Occupation {LB618}
-1- Chicago Rally for The People of Egypt
The protests in Egypt were only a couple days old as over 1,000 protesters squeezed onto the wide Michigan Avenue sidewalk on January 29, 2011, in front of Chicago’s Egyptian consulate to show their support for the revolt of the Egyptian people against the dictator Mubarak. .
-2- Labor Stands with Subpoenaed Activists
On January 25, 2011 outside Chicago’s Federal Building in the Loop several hundred supporters gathered to protest the FBI subpoenas of anti-war activist, and the Grand Jury maneuvers to intimidate legitimate protest.
Joining them were representatives of two large and important unions in Chicago and Illinois: SEIU Local 73 (Christine Boardman, President), and the Chicago Teachers Union (Jesse Sharkey, Vice President), the largest union in Illinois. .
-3- Iraq Protests the Occupation
Excerpts from Sana TV (Iraq) coverage showing opposition to the U.S. occupation.
After a mosque bombing an Iraqi observes: "I am sure these people [who planted the bomb in the mosque]...have been planted among us by the occupation that is playing the main role in the chaos in Iraq."
Sana TV is produced by Iraq Freedom Congress in Iraq, a progressive, non-sectarian, pro-labor group. Sana TV’s offices were recently wrecked by the militia. Length 11:07. .
Labor Beat: Chicago School Board Vs The Community, Part II: Citizens of Chicago Wake Up! / American Axle Workers Drawing the Line {LB548}
1 - Chicago Public Schools vs The Community, Part II: Citizens of Chicago Wake Up!
As the assault against public education continues in Chicago, strategies for a fight-back are brought forward, including building a city-wide campaign to change from an appointed to an elected Board of Education.
The leadership of the teachers union must also organize, where it has failed to do so heretofore, a serious challenge to the destruction of jobs and shattering of community control of schools.
Anthony Travis, Kenwood High School Local School Council member, warns in the video: "Citizens of Chicago, you need to wake up and realize our community is under siege by some elitist bankers, business people, who do not care about the education of our children."
Includes running commentary by George Schmidt, editor of Substance newspaper and footage of community actions. 20est mins.
Play the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3100075850542265041&hl=en.
And play the video of Part I of Labor Beat’s coverage of the current fight agains wholesale closing of schools by the Chicago Board of Education: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3100075850542265041&hl=en
2 - American Axle Strike: Workers Drawing the Line.
Hundreds of participants at the April 11-13 Labor Notes Conference in Detroit join the American Axle workers’ picket line. American Axle workers had been on strike for nine weeks. Interview, speeches. 7 minutes.
Play the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54lSXO5mrTc
Labor Beat: Chicago Teachers Union Hosts Mayoral Candidate Forum {LB616}
The Dec. 16, 2010 Mayor Candidates Forum sponsored by the Chicago Teachers Union and several other unions is the subject of this show.
We hear samplings of the questions for and answers by the candidates present (Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun, Miguel Del Valle, William "Doc" Walls, James Meeks).
Provided also is commentary by Sean Noonan, a college teacher and member of AFT 1600. Noonan suggests that the time has come for labor to abandon the lesser of two evils strategy in looking to the future.
The unusual conditions in this city election cycle are the result of the unexpected exit of Mayor Daley and the expanding battlefield over funding for the public sector.
Notably absent from the event was putative front-runner Rahm Emanuel. John Kugler, reporter for substancenews.net, notes that on the very day of this debate hearings began in Aurora to build up steam for the union-busting "Performance Counts" legislation in Springfield. That effort was publicly endorsed by the Democratic Party’s crown prince Rahm Emanuel, but the push for this legislation failed to get sponsorship in the legislature, and is dead for now. It’s an early defeat for Rahm.
Labor Beat: Chicago Teachers, Wisconsin Labor Cookout / {LB632}
Aug. 31, 2011 - Wisconsin labor leaders are invited down to a South Side backyard cookout by the Chicago Teachers Union, where they compare notes on how to stop attacks on public workers unions in Wisconsin and Chicago.
Excerpts of speeches from CTU President Karen Lewis; Joe Conway, Jr., President, Madison Firefighters Union; Ed Cobb, President, Wisconsin Building Trades; Peggy Coyne, President, Madison, WI Teachers Union; and legendary South Side steelworker Ed Sadlowski, Jr.
Labor Beat: Chicago Upsurge {LB370}
Chicago hasn’t seen such demonstrations in the streets since the Viet-Nam anti-war movement. Now, in this key midwest city, there is a harbinger of a mass movement in the U.S. heartland growning over a broad range of working class issues. This new video by Labor Beat documents this upsurge of activism in a period of 4 days. If you didn’t hear about it, it’s not your fault, for even the Chicago Tribune buried it on page 3 of the metro section. This is something corporations don’t want the rest of the country to know about.
Beginning with the 10,000-strong (police estimate) march for amnesty for undocumented workers on Sept. 23, 2000, the video then covers the all-day actions on Sept. 26 in the loop in solidarity with the Prague protests against the IMF. Organized by a coalition of labor union members including the UAW, UE, SEIU, USWA, UNITE, students, Direct Action Network, Jobs with Justice, and others, protests cover: Harris Bank Corp. against Titan International Corp.; Nike (where arrests take place); Chicago Board of Trade (IMF); at LaSalle Bank (ABN AMRO) against the Burmese junta; CitiCorp, the largest backer of IMF, United Airlines (against laundry sweatshops); and then to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility, to target police brutality and Sydexo-Marriott.
Labor Beat: Chicago Upsurge {LB356}
Within: Labor Beat: Nelson Mandela at Plumbers Hall Chicago LB356}
Chicago hasn’t seen such demonstrations in the streets since the Viet-Nam anti-war movement. Now, in this key midwest city, there is a harbinger of a mass movement in the U.S. heartland growning over a broad range of working class issues. This new video by Labor Beat documents this upsurge of activism in a period of 4 days. If you didn’t hear about it, it’s not your fault, for even the Chicago Tribune buried it on page 3 of the metro section. This is something corporations don’t want the rest of the country to know about.
Beginning with the 10,000-strong (police estimate) march for amnesty for undocumented workers on Sept. 23, 2000, the video then covers the all-day actions on Sept. 26 in the loop in solidarity with the Prague protests against the IMF. Organized by a coalition of labor union members including the UAW, UE, SEIU, USWA, UNITE, students, Direct Action Network, Jobs with Justice, and others, protests cover: Harris Bank Corp. against Titan International Corp.; Nike (where arrests take place); Chicago Board of Trade (IMF); at LaSalle Bank (ABN AMRO) against the Burmese junta; CitiCorp, the largest backer of IMF, United Airlines (against laundry sweatshops); and then to the Metropolitan Correctional Facility, to target police brutality and Sydexo-Marriott.
Labor Beat: Chicago Victory Rally for Charleston Longshoremen {LB385?}
The November 2001 Chicago victory rally for the Charleston, S.C. longshoremen.
With South Carolina AFL-CIO Pres. Donna Dewitt, Illinois AFL-CIO President Margaret Blackshere as emcee (Photo: www.chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=6798), Mike Fitgerald of IBEW 134, Sarita Gupta of Jobs with Justice, and Lee Sustar of the Chicago Committee to Defend Charleston 5.
Labor Beat: Chicago: War Protest March to Obama's 2012 HQ / Hey You, Billionaire, Pay Your Fair Share {LB634}
- Chicago: War Protest March to Obama’s 2012 HQ October 8, 2011.
On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan a coalition of anti-war groups (www.ChicagoMassAction.org) held a protest to address the truckload of grievances, domestic and global, resulting from the Bush, and now Obama, war-a-palooza.
The eventual destination of the march, which started out at Congress and Grant Park (scene of 1968 police riots) was the 2012 campaign headquarters for President Obama.
Features the main speech by Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report, (www.blackagendareport.com
We follow the march as it heads up State Street, then over to Obama HQ at the Prudential Building. Dixon reminds the assembly that there will be protest actions organized in Chicago in May when the G8 and NATO (invited by Mayor Emanuel) will be coming to Chicago.
- Hey You Billionaire, Pay Your Fair Share.
On Oct. 10, 2011, a combination of five feeder marches gathered in Chicago’s Loop to protest the Futures & Options and American Mortgage Bankers Association expos.
The feeders represented constituencies for jobs, housing, and public schools. They generated a combined march of 7,000, and finally ended up at the Art Institute where the banksters were having a reception dinner.
Here are selected scenes and comments from a big spectrum of interests affected by the dictatorship of capital being forced upon the workers of Chicago.
Includes the march for homes/housing starting from the Hyatt, the Occupy Chicago location where the teachers union gathered, and the final convergence at the Art Institute. Street interviews. Also, interview/speech by Karen Lewis, President of Chicago Teachers Union.
Labor Beat: Chicago: War Protest March to Obama's 2012 HQ Plus march against mortgage banksters { –n–
zzzz====Chicago: War Protest March to Obama’s 2012 HQ Oct. 8, 2011 -
On the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Invasion of Afghanistan a coalition of anti-war groups (www.ChicagoMassAction.org) held a protest to address the truckload of grievances, domestic and global, resulting from the Bush, and now Obama, war-a-palooza.
The eventual destination of the march, which started out at Congress and Grant Park (scene of 1968 police riots) was the 2012 campaign headquarters for President Obama.
Features the main speech by Bruce Dixon (Black Agenda Report, (www.blackagendareport.com
We follow the march as it heads up State Street, then over to Obama HQ at the Prudential Building. Dixon reminds the assembly that there will be protest actions organized in Chicago in May when the G8 and NATO (invited by Mayor Emanuel) will be coming to Chicago.
- Hey You Billionaire, Pay Your Fair Share
On Oct. 10, 2011, a combination of five feeder marches gathered in Chicago’s Loop to protest the Futures & Options and American Mortgage Bankers Association expos. The feeders represented constituencies for jobs, housing, and public schools. They generated a combined march of 7,000, and finally ended up at the Art Institute where the banksters were having a reception dinner. Here are selected scenes and comments from a big spectrum of interests affected by the dictatorship of capital being forced upon the workers of Chicago. Includes the march for homes/housing starting from the Hyatt, the Occupy Chicago location where the teachers union gathered, and the final convergence at the Art Institute. Street interviews. Also, interview/speech by Karen Lewis, President of Chicago Teachers Union.
10/8 protest arrives at Obama’s Campaign Headquarters at the Prudential Building.
Take Back Chicago contingent in feeder march from Hyatt on 10/10. Photos: Labor Beat
Produced by Labor Beat. Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. For info: mail@laborbeat.org
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Labor Beat: Christian Parenti {LB357}
Mins 26:45Labor Beat: Chrysler Plant Coalition {LB107.} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Cinderella City / Jobs with Justice March and Rally {LB220} –n–
"Cinderella City", a new documentary which examines the failure of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor rennovation to create decent jobs, despite big business hype to the contrary. The producers noted that "this is a matter of political significance, since city, state and federal taxpayers have subsidized the redevelopment of downtown Baltimore at a cost of . . . $2 billion." Segments in "Cinderalla City" look at how AFSCME is beginning to organize the city’s service-sector employees."
Also, 7 minutes from the spirited June 17, 1995 Jobs with Justice march and rally in Chicago.
Labor Beat: The Cissy Lacks Affair {LB276} –n–
A studio interview featuring Cissy Lacks, the St. Louis County high school teacher who faced a barrage of attacks on her union rights when she introduced creative techniques in her writing class. Produced by LaborVision in St. Louis.
Mins 28:13
Labor Beat: CIW Seeks Support in Chicago / Chicago Stands with Oaxaca / How Unions Can Utilize Public Access TV {LB511}
- 1. Coalition of Immokalee Workers Seeks Support in Chicago (scenes and interviews from the recent CIW campaign in the Chicago area.)
- 2. Chicago Stands with Oaxaca (protest at Mexican Consulate to show solidarity with the Oaxaca uprising and to protest the murder of IMC videographer Brad Will)
- 3. How unions can utilize public access tv (produced by SEIU 503 in Oregon)
Labor Beat: The Clinton Health Plan Vs. Single Payer {LB180} –n–
A short video and a panel discussion with an Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers representative on this complex subject.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Collateral Damage / New York Daily News Strike {LB112.}
A protest held by the Cook County Hospital House Staff Association during the Gulf War to decry military spending at the expense of health care.
Also, "The Monster That Wants To Suck You Dry," showing Chicago support activities for the New York Daily News strike.
Labor Beat: Colombia, part 1 of 2 {LB366} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Colombia, part 2 of 2 {LB367} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Congress Hotel Strike / Trainwreck of Ideologies {LB446}
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Mins 29estLabor Beat: Continuum Or Watershed: The New AFL-CIO {LB242} –n–
Labor at the Crossroads’ discussion of the changes in the AFL-CIO since the 1996 Convention, with interview with John Sweeney.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Cook County Nurses Fight for Public Health / Rally for U. of Chicago Workers / Norman Finkelstein {LB536}
1. Cook County Nurses and the Fight for Public Health. A campaign by California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee in Chicago to stop Chairman Todd Stroger’s cuts in Cook County health care. A study of how the local media covered this campaign.
2. Rally for U. of Chicago Workers. On Friday, Sept. 28, 2007 a spirited rally took place at the university in support of campus workers and members of Teamsters Local 743.
U. of C. had offered the workers a sub-standard contract. The rally, organized by Students Organizing United with Labor (soul.uchicago.edu), was attended by campus workers, students, faculty and community members.
3. Norman Finkelstein. Sept. 5, 2007. hundreds of the fired professor’s supporters try to escort him onto the campus of DePaul University in Chicago.
Denied tenure by the pro-Zionist administration because of his questioning of Israeli foreign policy, Finkelstein gives a statement (excerpts) after his final meeting with University officials.
Labor Beat: Cook County Nurses: It's Contract Time {LB501}
Nurses in Chicago present demands and a deadline for a strike at the end of June 2006. The Cook County Nurses (organized with the National Nurses Organizing Committee of the California Nurses Association) threaten a one day strike if negotiations don’t yield satisfactory results.
An exclusive Labor Beat report on the issues that the nurses are concerned with, featuring Sheilah Garland-Olaniran (NNOC Midwest Coordinator) and Stroger Hospital nurses.
Google playback is 23 mins.
Labor Beat: Corporate Media and the Pillage of Chicago Public Education {LB604}
In the weeks following the election of Karen Lewis as the new Chicago Teachers Union President, we see how Chicago’s corporate public relations world attempts to spin the story of new union militancy in the face of layoffs and 35 students per classroom.
Exclusive press conference scenes and analysis. Interview with Carol Caref, new CTU Region A Vice President, as we watch her and Karen Lewis spar with reporters.
George Schmidt, Editor of substancenews.net, provides valuable insights into the media scene in Chicago.
Also footage and commentary by substancenews.net reporter John Kugler who describes his question that shut down a press conference put on by Mayor Daley and the head of Chicago Public Schools Ron Huberman.
Labor Beat: Could Be Your Job Next / Mouseland {LB115}
"Could Be Your Job Next." Movie producer Michael Moore, OCAW union workers, and a Labor Beat camera crew show up at American Home Products’ Whitehall plant in Elkhart, Indiana, to attempt to discuss the corporation’s plans to close the plant.
"Mouseland." A 5-minute animation fable on labor and political parties. Produced by the NDP in Canada.
Labor Beat: Court Reporters / College Counselors / Taco Bell Boycott / {LB392}
Four segments.
(1) Let Court Reporters Organize! Although they are public employees and they want a union, their boss, the Illinois State Supreme Court,says the court reporters don’t have a right to a bargaining unit. What gives? Photo: www.chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=8788&group=webcast
(2) Protest Against Chicago City Colleges’ Firing All Counselors. Photo: www.chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=8789&group=webcast
(3) The Taco Bell Boycott Caravan Comes to Chicago. Despite the bitter cold weather, it’s a big turnout for the Caravan. Interviews and scenes. Photo: www.chicago.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=8790&group=webcast
(4)
Labor Beat: Craft Against Corporate Welfare / Ifti Nasim / IVAW at Madison {LB629}
For the June 14, 2011 march to protest a big meeting of corporate executives at Chicago’s Hyatt Regency Hotel, a group of banner makers created Craft Against Corporate Welfare.
As part of the general Stand Up! Chicago mobilization, this merry band of students, teachers and activists put together an impressive selection of giant puppets, signs, and huge banners to be used in the protest.
We visit with them as they discuss their mission, spray paint and staple gun over three days, and pull off some impressive deployments during the scheduled event. More info:
Labor Beat: Crisis in Argentina {LB400} –n–
Mins 27estLabor Beat: The Crisis in Mexico {LB521}
Alan Benjamin--Member of the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Labor Council--discusses the new developments in Mexico from the fraudulent election of Calderon, the responses within the unions, and to the growing social crisis today.
Alan is a long time labor activist and he has spent much of the past year in Mexico meeting with activists from Mexico City and Oaxaca and following political and social developments in the country.
Assorted visuals included. Alan’s remarks were recorded at a March 1, 2007 event in Chicago--"The Crisis in Mexico", co-sponsored by the Global Justice Committee of Chicago Jobs With Justice, Labor Express Radio, Labor Beat, and the Mexico Solidarity Network, Durango Unido en Chicago and CONFEMEX (Confederación de Federaciones Mexicanas de Illinois).
Labor Beat: Crossborder Mural Project {LB292?}
Shortened-for-tv version of ’Crossborder Mural Project -- The Video.’
Mins 27:49Labor Beat: Crossborder Mural Project {LB561}
Witness the creation of two labor murals, one in Mexico City, the other in Chicago, linked by the collaborative efforts of unions from both sides of the border.
In April, 1997 Mike Alewitz paints a mural in the headquarters of the Frente Autentico del Trabajo (FAT) in Mexico City. Later in the year, Mexican muralist Daniel Manrique Arias and three young muralists from co-sponsoring Chicago Public Arts Group paint a mural on an outside wall of the United Electrical Workers (UE) District 11 Hall in Chicago, Illinois at 37 S. Ashland Ave.
This ambitious cultural project of the pioneering crossborder Strategic Organizing Alliance between UE and Mexico’s independent labor federation gives visual expression to the idea of international solidarity.
Labor muralist Alewitz features Mexican hero Emiliano Zapata and Albert and Lucy Parsons. Albert Parsons was executed on trumped up charges following the Haymarket Square incident in Chicago. Lucy Parsons fought to prove her husband’s innocence and improve conditions for workers and women.
The mural is entitled "Sindicalismo Sin Fronteras / Unions Without Borders". Manrique is a major voice in Mexican art and the foremost exponent of the neighborhood-based movement Tepito Arte Aca. His mural is entitled "Hands in Solidarity -- Hands of Freedom / Manos Solidarias--Manos Libres."
UE Director of International Labor Affairs Robin Alexander and both muralists talk about the project and the painting of the murals. Video is a spellbinding collection of visions from inside the world of two muralist at the moment of creation.
Produced and edited by Steve Dalber, a Labor Beat co-producer. Ala LB292
Labor Beat: Cross Border Organizing, Stepan Chemical {LB212} –n–
See what happens when workers try to organize in post-NAFTA Mexico. A maquilladora chemical plant endangers workers and the environment. Includes Chicago connections.
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: The CTA Strike of 1968 {LB630}
We can’t find any documentary about this on the Internet, so this may be the only one in existence about the Chicago Transit Authority (wildcat) strike of 1968.
There is no wonder that official Chicago history has somehow buried this story in a deep crypt, but we have brought it back into the daylight of 2011, along with rare archival stills and film footage, and exclusive interviews with now retired CTA drivers who played key roles.
Here is the 60s Civil Rights movement intersecting with the class struggle in a big North American city, engaging a major public sector employer. Adding to this mix was the fact that many of the drivers were returned Viet Nam veterans with combat experience and not inclined to back down from a fight.
Now back in Chicago, the drivers confronted racism not only in the bus company but in the company union (warning: coarse language in video). "You could stand up in that union hall -- McNamara was the President -- at Van Buren and Ashland. Before you opened your mouth - whack! - you’re out of order," recalls Rodgers Harmon, ret. 36 years CTA bus driver.
"We didn’t have any real representation in the union...the strike was not so much against the CTA, it was against the union with no representation," recalls Claude Brown, ret. CTA Bus Driver.
The wildcat strike was on, and the drivers learned how to develop community support. Standish E. Willis, then CTA driver and today a criminal defense attorney, remembers: "We started drawing upon the leadership in the broader community. So we had Operation PUSH (Breadbasket at the time). We would reach out to celebrities...I remember Gale Sayers...Dick Gregory...I went personally and brought Muhammad Ali to the rally. But the significant thing is that we reached out to the community by developing car pools similar to what happened in Montgomery at the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, and we would take our personal cars and drive them up and down the main thoroughfares in the areas we had closed down -- the West Side and the South Side -- picking up people, getting them to the next stop. What that allowed us to do is to explain what the strike was about...and to get support in the broader African-American community."
Labor Beat: "Cui Bono?" Greg Palast asks, "Who Benefits?" {LB414}
Greg Palast, author of "Best Democracy Money Can Buy" discusses "Who Benefits" from Bush’s spying network on the public. "’Cui Bono?’ http://www.chicago.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=18652&group=webcast.
Mins 27estLabor Beat: CWA Vs. Verizon {LB450}
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Mins 29estLabor Beat: The Daily News Is Bad News {LB134} –n–
The latest Daily News strike video, including recovered stolen footage. From Hunter College. Produced by Paper Tiger TV.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Dan Lane and Friends at the 1995 AFL-CIO Convention {LB230}
Dan Lane (the locked-out Staley worker and hunger striker) gives a speech to the AFL-CIO convention, and is interviewed by Elsa Rassbach. Footage of the grand entrance of various delegations of strikers into the convention.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Dan Lane on the Staley Lockout {LB188.}
Dane Lane, a locked-out worker, is probably the most effective speaker to come out of the Decatur IL Staley struggle. Here Dan delivers a high-energy speech to a Chicago area IBEW local.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Day Laborers / Fighting Wal-Mart in Chicago {LB456}
1. Chicago’s day laborers. By documentarist Greg Boozell. 2. Jamie Daniel talks about taking on Wal-Mart in Chicago.
Mins 29estLabor Beat: Deadly Corn {LB172} –n–
Workers’ efforts to combat unsafe working conditions at the A.E. Staley corn processing plant in Decatur, Illinois. Documents the in-plant campaign and lockout. Produced by LaborVision of St. Louis in collaboration with the Staley workers’ union.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Deadly Deception: GE, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment {LB120?} –n–
Exposes the terrifying human and environmental cost of GE’s nuclear weapons development. Former GE employees interviewed, and GE’s slick TV ad campaign attacked and analyzed.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Deadly Embrace: Nicaragua, the World Bank and IMF {LB338} –n–
Documentary on how the International Monetary Fund and World Bank bleed developing countries, with special emphasis on Nicaragua.
Includes WB and IMF P.R. footage and shots of headquarters in Washington, DC. Produced by ’working tv’ (Vancouver, B.C., Canada).
Labor Beat: Debbie Fights Back {LB072}
Hotel Nikko, one of Chicago’s luxury hotels, was the center of an organizing drive by the Hotel Workers Union. Debbie Ambrose was fired from her job at the hotel and explains that it was for union activity. We also see union leaders from Scandanavia protesting Debbie’s firing. This campaign is part of an international effort against the anti-union Nikko chain and its owner, Japan Airline. This tape has been shown to hotel workers in Japan, Kenya, and throughout Europe as part of the campaign.
Mins 15estLabor Beat: Defending Civil Labor Liberties {LB384?}
1) Margaret Blackshere, President, Illinois AFL-CIO, warns about the new proposed "anti-terrorist" legislation in Springfield and how it threatens labor.
2) "Suburban Sweatshop" video about the (recently victorious) UNITE linen workers struggle.
3) Defending Civil Liberties demonstration on Nov. 7, 2001 at Tribune Tower.
4) Student midwest anti-war conference at DePaul on Nov. 10-11 (selection).
Labor Beat: Defending Public Education in the USA {LB556}
The Peace and Justice caucus in the American Federation of Teachers held a roundtable discussion on "Fighting Back in the Schools" during the July 2008 AFT Convention in Chicago.
Labor Beat edited excerpts from those presentations, including dramatic footage of student protests, in the face of police repression, against the privatization of the public schools in Detroit and St. Louis.
The message is clear: public education, a long-fought-for gain of the working class over the last century and a half, is targeted for annihilation by corporate America.
The speakers are: Gloria Brandman, Teacher, NYC Public Schools; Steve Conn, teacher, Detroit Public Schools; Jim Hamilton, Missouri AFT; George Schmidt, Chicago, editor of Substance Newspaper; Julie Washington, Elementary Schools Vice President, United Teachers Los Angeles; Pablo Rodriguez, instructor, San Francisco State University.
Labor Beat: Defend Professor Capeheart / Support Cintas Workers / No Games / Daley's Snowstorm {LB572}
- Defend Professor Capeheart. - Support Cintas Workers - No Games - Daley’s Snowstorm
Note: Descriptions of these segments and their on-demand playback links are provided separately in the Labor Beat show listings.
Labor Beat: Delphi {LB491}
Delphi is the auto parts spin-off of General Motors Corporation. It is threatening to declare bankruptcy and to gut wages and benefits for UAW members. The UAW International leadership (surprise, surprise!) seems to be rolling over and playing dead.
In this Labor Beat, Gregg Shotwell explains the problems with Delphi and discusses the in-plant strike strategy known as ’work-to-rule’. Brother Shotwell is one of the most articulate labor speakers in the country today, and is a leading UAW rank-and-file militant. He spoke at a public meeting in Chicago and at a closed meeting in Milwaukee for UAW Delphi workers.
The last segment of the show is coverage of the January 2006 UAW rank-and-file protest at the Detroit U.S. Auto Show.
Labor Beat: The Democratic Party Convention / Paperworkers for Reform {LB252}
"In the Land of the Lesser Evil." IBEW 134’s Marty Conlisk and two Labor Beat cameraguys get press passes into the United Center during the Democratic Party 1996 Convention. They wander the floor and hallways looking for some serious interviews about issues affecting working people, but meet with limited success. Includes a riveting non-interview about NAFTA with Labor Secretary Reich, and another with comedian Pat Paulson.
We do find some people in touch with reality, but outside the hall, with the bus tour from the Chicago Jobs and Living Wage Campaign. 13 min.
Also, "Paperworkers for Reform," which shows why the UPIU International leadership needs to be overhauled, to stop expanding the graveyard of defeats such as at Staley and Trailmobile.
Labor Beat: Demonizing the Inner City - Ideology and the Urban Poor {LB538}
Repeating one of Labor Beat’s most popular Internet streaming videos.
In this presentation, Steve Macek-- author of the book "Urban Nightmares: The Media, The Right and the Moral Panic over the City" (University of Minnesota Press, 2006) - analyzes the hysteria over the central city and the urban poor that permeated American politics and popular culture in the 1980s and 90s.
Macek dissects the way mainstream politicians (Rudolph Giuliani, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr.) , conservative intellectuals and the corporate media conspired to demonize inner city neighborhoods and their residents.
In particular, he discusses the way that TV news reproduced and validated the right’s stigmatizing, victim blaming images of the urban poor. Ultimately, he critiques the reactionary political interests served by this divisive discourse on urban pathology and points to what activists can do to counter its destructive influence. Includes assorted visuals.
A related video is Labor Beat’s "Grove Parc Today, Tomorrow It Will Be You" (Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbyLqy_T-Z4Search ’Labor Beat’ videos on YouTube, or search for ’Labor Beat’ videos on YouTube). Residents from the Grove Parc Apartments subsidized housing complex on Chicago’s South Side held a spirited demonstration at the Federal Plaza in Chicago’s Loop on Nov. 19, 2007. Their homes, at the proposed site of the 2016 Olympic Stadium, may get bulldozed by the city’s gentrification plans. More info: 773-753-9674.
Labor Beat: Demonizing the Inner City - Ideology and the Urban Poor {LB515}
Steve Macek, author of "Urban Nightmares: The Media, The Right, and the Moral Panic Over the City", talks about how the right wing has -- through re-packaging the 19th-century Victorian capitalists’ demonizing of the economic lower-rung -- developed through the media an ideological attack on the urban poor. Assorted visuals. Produced by Labor Beat
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Detroit Newspaper Strike / SEIU 880 / Pepsi Strike {LB231} –n–
Three short videos by Chicago-area producers on the Detroit newspaper strike, SEIU 880, and the Staley workers Anti-Pepsi campaign.
1. Detroit Newspaper Strike (by Media Process Group)
2. SEIU 880 Report (by Chicago Video Project)
3. UPIU Video (by Greg Boozell)
Labor Beat: Detroit News Strike, Part 1 of 2 {LB232} –n–
Detroit News strike coverage.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Detroit News Strike, Part 2 of 2 {LB233} –n–
Detroit News strike coverage.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Dial-A-Bus On Strike / From Bad to Worse {LB132.}
"Dial-A-Bus On Strike." An independent drivers union strikes the Chicago suburban transit service for disabled passengers.
"From Bad to Worse." Cook County Hospital staff workers protest cuts and layoffs.
Labor Beat: Dial-A-Bus / Workers Talk About AIDS / U.S.-Mexico {LB119}
"Dial-A-Bus." An early view of a suburban Chicago transit workers strike.
"Changing Attitudes: Workers Talk About AIDS." Produced by LIPA.
"U.S.-Mexico Free Trade." No fast track!
Labor Beat: Did They Buy It? {LB108.} –n–
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: Direct Action {LB617}
Video of the special Labor Express Radio show in Dec. 2010 that examined direct action as an effective tactic for unions and other social movements. The live-streamed video webcast featured a panel of four guests who have already won victories using direct action.
Toussaint Losier of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign - The campaign has successfully kept people in their homes by blocking home evictions with mass numbers of supporters.
Mark Meinster of UE - The UE’s factory occupation of Republic Windows and Doors, not only won the workers their legally mandated severance, but eventually lead to the re-opening of the factory.
Michael Kozlowicz of the IWW - The IWW has throughout it history promoted direct action as a primary way for workers to win demands in the work place. Everything from refusals to work, to walk outs, to work to rule, to free speech fights, to sabotage have been a part IWW history. And the organization continues to use these tactics to great effect from Jimmy Johns, to Starbucks, to warehouse workers on the East Coast. Now the Chicago IWW is organizing a direct action case work workers center - the Lucy Parsons Workers Center.
Claudio Gaete of the Whittier Parents Committee - By occupying the field house on the grounds of Whittier Elementary School for over 40 days, parents were able prevent the buildings demolition and win their demand that the facility be used as a library for the children and a community center for the parents.
Discussion explores successful uses of direct action and how direct action is an important strategy for social movements.
To find out how to get a DVD of this show, contact:lduncan@igc.org.
Labor Beat: Dirty Business {LB118} –n–
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Disability Nightmare / In the Land of the Lesser Evil {LB251?} –n–
"Disability Nightmare." How insurance companies and employers get away like bandits in settling disability cases with their employees. A well made documentary with lots of information and dramatic illustrations. Produced by Labor Video Project in San Francisco.
Also, "In the Land of the Lesser Evil," five minutes from Labor Beat’s show about labor and the 1996 Democratic Party Convention.
Labor Beat: Do It Publicly {LB235} –n–
A video by Public Services International on the international fight against privatization in the U.K., South Africa, and Jamaica.
"Do It Publicly" shows what happens when public services are sold off or contracted out, and what privatization does to people in different parts of the world. Produced in England, this video will give U.S. workers and unions new insights into these attacks, which are aimed at communities globally.
The video is followed by a short Public Service Announcement about Chicago Jobs with Justice’s Committee Against Privatization.
Labor Beat: Don Rose -- Chicago Race Relations {LB075+}
This veteran political observer offered an historical perspective.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: 'Don't Let Them Close Our School' {LB493}
The fight to keep open Chicago’s Collins High school reveals a power struggle that is less about education and more about real estate.
"Don’t Let Them Close Our School", a 30-min. video, is about the fight to keep open Collins High School, a school that was built in the neighborhood where Martin Luther King Jr. stayed when he was in Chicago in the 1960s. The school itself was built in the 70s.
The Chicago Public Schools, along with Mayor Daley, are trying to close it. But the school is functional and modern.
Real estate developers, who want to sell pricey townhomes, are driving out the low-income families in the neighborhood, and are getting the Chicago Public Schools to create a misleading smokescreen that the school has a low academic performance, and that this is all for the benefit of the students. Teachers, students, community activists, and education experts strongly disagree.
Interviews with George Schmidt, Collins HS teacher John Dudley, speeches from public meetings.
Labor Beat: Don't Privatize The Postal Service {LB303.} –n–
Covers a protest against privatization of the U.S. postal service. Produced by Wes Brain (of the OPEU Local in Washington State).
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: Don't Take Senn From Our Hands {LB542}
Senn High School on Chicago’s North Side had one of its wings taken over by a Navy academy and now an alderman is pushing a scheme to divide Senn High School up into small schools open only to those who meet restricted requirements. In December 2007 some 300 Senn students, faculty and community members held a rally at the school to support a plan to save and enhance Senn as a diverse community school open to all students.
Also, Patricia McCann of Iraq Veterans Against the War and George Schmidt of Substance news discuss the growing opposition to military recruiters having free run of Chicago high schools and the disturbing grown of military high school academies, such as the Navy academy at Senn.
Senn High School is at the forefront of a national battle to defend public education against militarization and denial of universal access to quality education. More info: www.savesenn.org, www.ivaw.org.
Labor Beat: Drywalaros: Huelgistas! (Drywallers: Strikers!) Part 1 of 2 {LB195} –n–
Determined strikers face armed goons during a San Diego CA drywallers strike. For both English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. Produced by Labor Link. Part one of two parts.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: Drywaleros: Huelgistas! (Drywallers: Strikers!) Part 2 of 2 {LB196} –n–
Second of two parts.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: East Timor {LB312} –n–
An interview with activists about the struggle for human rights and labor rights in East Timor. Produced by Acclaim Video of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Mins 28estLabor Beat: The Eight Hours - Part 1 of 2 {LB020} –n–
THE EIGHT HOURS is a one-act play in cabaret form about Gilded-Age Chicago and the Haymarket incident. Features the Chicago Cabaret Ensemble and was written and directed by Warren Leming. Chicago’s Reader newspaper called THE EIGHT HOURS "a wonderful, exciting work . . . (about) one of the most important events in the history of the labor movement." Songs and original music. Part 1 of 2.
Mins 29:14Labor Beat: The Eight Hours - Part 2 of 2 {LB021} –n–
THE EIGHT HOURS. Part 2 of 2. See Part 1 description.
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: The Elder Studs Terkel, Activist for Labor / Public Dollars, Public Schools {LB566}
- The Elder Studs Terkel, Activist for Labor
On Oct. 31, 2008 Studs Terkel died at age 96. The event was somewhat overshadowed by the looming Nov. 4 election just days away. It was Halloween, too, something Studs would have been amused by.
Studs’ passing marked the end to an era. His public radio and writer’s personality had been part of the national narrative in progressive and labor history going back to the 30s.
Labor Beat has compiled here selections from our own exclusive footage of Studs appearing at union picket lines and rallies for the past 20 years. Here is Studs speaking at a grape boycott rally with Cesar Chavez, and testifying with Tim Kazurinsky in the Chicago City Council chambers urging their support for the SAG-AFTRA strike.
We spend some time with Studs as he arrives at a big hotel strike rally on Labor Day in 2003 on Michigan Ave. He enjoys schmoozing the crowd and becomes again the old soap box orator of yore. And in 2007 we see Studs in his dotage, perhaps at his last outdoor labor rally--in Chicago’s Millennium Park for Single Payer Health Care. Studs introduces filmmaker Michael Moore, his new film "Sicko" just released, and Studs and Michael crack a few jokes together. Michael Moore reminds the audience: "Studs, you’re a national treasure."
Narrated by Al Harris Stein.
- Also, a second, short segment. Public Dollars, Public Schools
Well over 500 parents, children and teachers converged on the Chicago School Board protesting the proposed 20 school closings.
Recognizing the Renaissance 2010 plan of the business class’s Commercial Club and its role in the union busting plan and the sabotage of neighborhood schools, they march to their front doors and rally before heading to City Hall to demand a meeting with Mayor Daley.
Labor Beat: El Salvador Is Not for Sale! {LB266} –n–
Portrait of a country under assault from Washington and the World Bank. Shows the impact of structural adjustment, privatization and a global sweatshop economy. Historical footage from the start of civil war in 1980 to the economic war of the 90’s. Includes inspiring images of strikers inside a Free Trade Zone. Concludes with a call for global justice. A good Movement video in sync with the new attitude of global fight-back. Produced by CISPES.
Labor Beat: Employee Free Choice Act Town Hall Meeting {LB568}
Chicago-area trade unions held an Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) rally on February 17, 2009. Over a thousand trade unionists voiced their support for EFCA, overflowing the old Plumbers Hall west of the Loop. Many workers had to stand in the lobby listening to the speeches.
The EFCA , if passed in Congress, will strengthen employees’ rights to form a union and help restore the living standards of the working class.
Speakers appearing in the video include: Michael Carrigan, Pres. Ill. AFL-CIO; national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney; U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Chicago); Laborers’ International Union of North America President Terence O’Sullivan; Anna Burger, Change to Win labor coalition; and others.
Labor Beat: Employee Free Choice / IVAW Operation First Casualty {LB526}
1. Justice: The Heart of Organizing
This video was produced for the AFL-CIO. It "presents five organizing campaigns that expose the unlawful tactics that employers use to thwart employees’ organizing efforts.
It underscores the weakness of our current labor laws and the urgent need for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. At a time when working families are struggling to hold even and deeply worried about living standards for their children, unions are more important than ever. This bi-partisan act would strengthen protections for workers’ freedom to choose a union and offer greater economic opportunities for all workers."
2. Iraq Veterans Against the War Deploy for ’Operation First Casualty’ Tour
On May 23, 2007, at the Vietnam Veterans memorial fountain in downtown Chicago, the local chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War assembled and, following a few short speeches, left to join other IVAW members in New York City in "Operation First Casualty."
Aaron Hughes, head of the Chicago chapter, explained that, "the first casualty of war is said to be Truth, and we’re here to bring the truth of the war home, to wake people up and hopefully bring some urgency to end this war."
This will be done through street theater actions dramatizing the impact of an occupying army. (Stills of the actions that weekend are shown). Barry Romo, National Coordinator of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, showing the support of the previous generation of veteran anti-war activists, provided an historical perspective.
Labor Beat: End Game: The Anti-War Movement and the Democrats {LB523}
As the debate intensifies over the Iraq war funding, this new Labor Beat video examines the complicity of the Democratic Party in the war, against the backdrop of recent 4th anniversary of war protests.
Mins 28est
Labor Beat: Evanston/Skokie Communities Support Unions' Rights to Bargain {LB622}
On March 15, 2011, Evanston and Skokie, suburbs on the northern boundary of Chicago, held a rally in support of union rights to collectively bargain in good faith.
Activists from these two communities took part in a national action called Defend the Dream, promoted by MoveOn.org to stop the cuts looming in Congress.
The speakers present were also motivated by the historic fight in Wisconsin to defend bargaining rights there. Union and community activists speaking were: Rachel Rosner (MoveOn.org Political Action); Jean Luft (Pres., District 65 Educators Council); Jason Hayes (member, Evanston Firefighters Local 742); Flo Estes (Representative, AFSCME Council 31); Laura Paz (Comité Anti Militarización - CAMI); Dickelle Fonda (Coalition for Peace and Justice). These speakers from Skokie and Evanston reflected the views of many communities throughout the U.S.
Regarding the layoffs of public workers, Jason Hays noted "When people work, the economy grows." Speaking to the basic rights to have unions, Flo Estes reminded the crowd: "The United Nations statement on Human Rights mark strong labor unions as a requirement of a democratic society." And Laura Paz, on the subject of funding, said: "We spend billions to kill people in other countries, so I don’t think union members need to take cutbacks when we’re spending that kind of money when the top 1% don’t pay fair taxes."