19 Apr 2023
State of the Union
A documentary film showcasing the ascension of the state of Virginia from its rank of 51st worst state for labor unions, to 23rd, in a matter of just three years.
Plutocracy II: Solidarity Forever
The film, which is the second part of an ongoing historical series, covers the seminal labor-related events which occurred between the late 1800's and the 1920's. Its subtitle refers to a 1915 song composed by Ralph Chaplin as an anthem for unionized workers. The film itself is the cinematic version of that anthem, as it allows us a comprehensive understanding of the need for these early labor unions, and the enormous sacrifices of its members to ensure fairness, safety, and equality in the workplace.
Top Billed Cast
Similar movies
State of the Union State of the Union Strike! The Village That Fought Back 
Strike! The Village That Fought Back 24 Mar 2024
Strike! The Village That Fought Back
The inside story of Polmaise Colliery and the miners who were the first to walk out and the last to go back to work during the miners' strike.
Where Do You Stand? Stories from an American Mill Where Do You Stand? Stories from an American Mill 01 Apr 2004
Where Do You Stand? Stories from an American Mill
Traces the story of the 25-year struggle of Fieldcrest-Cannon textile workers to form a union in the face of modernization and globalization.
Matewan 
Matewan 28 Aug 1987
Matewan
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.
Salt of the Earth 
Salt of the Earth 14 Mar 1954
Salt of the Earth
At New Mexico's Empire Zinc mine, Mexican-American workers protest the unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts. Ramon Quintero helps organize the strike, but he is shown to be a hypocrite by treating his pregnant wife, Esperanza, with a similar unfairness. When an injunction stops the men from protesting, however, the gender roles are reversed, and women find themselves on the picket lines while the men stay at home.
Americonned 
Americonned 09 Jun 2023
Americonned
The super-rich determines virtually every aspect of the lives of the other 90% of Americans. This film examines the hidden struggles of American families, the calculated political maneuvers of the elite, and the long overdue uprising of American workers. With affection for the middle-class and the outrageous attempt to color them as lazy, the film explores the question: How do we make sure workers are paid what they are worth, instead of believing they are only worth what they are paid?
The Willmar 8 
The Willmar 8 21 Apr 1981
The Willmar 8
Risking jobs, friends, family and the opposition of church and community, eight unassuming women begin the longest bank strike in American history.
Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today 
Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today 02 Jun 2018
Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today
Since its adoption in June 1955 by the Congress movement, the Freedom Charter has been the key political document that acted as a beacon and source of inspiration in the liberation struggle against Apartheid. It was reputedly the main source that informed democratic South Africa’s liberal constitution and a constant reference point for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and rival political parties that it spawned since 1994, all claiming the Freedom Charter’s legacy. Freedom Isn’t Free assesses the history and role of the charter, especially in relation to key political and socio-economic aspects of developments in South Africa up to the present period. It includes rare archival footage with interviews of a cross-section of outspoken influential South Africans.
The Flickering Flame 
The Flickering Flame 18 Dec 1996
The Flickering Flame
Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.
The Grievance Hearing 
The Grievance Hearing 01 Jan 1953
The Grievance Hearing
Presents a case history of a grievance case from the initial causes to the final settlement. Shows how grievance hearings enable labor unions and management to arrive at compromises in settling disputes.
Ms Rhymney Valley 
Ms Rhymney Valley 10 Jul 1985
Ms Rhymney Valley
Portrait of a community in the heart of South Wales almost one year into the miners' strike of the 1980s.
The River Ran Red The River Ran Red 11 Sep 1993
The River Ran Red
Blair Brown narrates this gripping account of a community's struggle to preserve its way of life. In the summer of 1892, a bitter conflict erupted at the Carnegie Works in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The nation's largest steel maker took on its most militant union with devastating consequences for American workers.
Comrades 
Comrades 23 Aug 1987
Comrades
The story of "The Tolpuddle Martyrs". A group of 19th century English farm labourers who formed one of the first trade unions and started a campaign to receive fair wages.
Haiti's Tourniquet Haiti's Tourniquet 01 Jun 2008
Haiti's Tourniquet
The Confederation of Haitian Workers (CTH) invited an Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) delegation to Haiti to learn about their fight against "le plan neoliberal" and recruit help in the form of material aid and solidarity. The delegation was in Haiti from April 24 to May 25, 2008, two weeks after the country erupted in mass protest at burgeoning food prices. This video shares the stories and experiences.
A Struggle to Remember 
A Struggle to Remember 13 Nov 2012
A Struggle to Remember
The video documentary "A Struggle to Remember: Fighting for Our Families" puts faces and narratives to the story of the struggle for family leave in Canada. The 20-minute film shows how it became accepted that women be able to return to their jobs after maternity leave and how men and women gained real and enforceable work-life balance provisions.
Harlan County U.S.A. 
Harlan County U.S.A. 23 Jan 1977
Harlan County U.S.A.
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
Miners Shot Down 
Miners Shot Down 01 May 2014
Miners Shot Down
In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days later the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the point of view of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low-paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers.
Fish or Cut Bait 
Fish or Cut Bait 01 Jan 1993
Fish or Cut Bait
In the 1970's, filmmakers Tom Burger, Bill McKiggan and Chuck Lapp began documenting the history and current struggles of inshore fishermen in Atlantic Canada to form a union. Until 1979 it was illegal for fishermen to form a union in Nova Scotia. The committed funding from the National Film Board was withdrawn for this film, however the filmmakers continued to edit the film by entering the NFB at night. The CBC refused to broadcast the film, but it was finally released in 1990 and broadcast nationally that year on Vision TV.
Thatcher vs The Miners: The Battle for Britain 
Thatcher vs The Miners: The Battle for Britain 31 May 2021
Thatcher vs The Miners: The Battle for Britain
On the 5th of March 1985, a crowd gathered in a South Yorkshire pit village to watch a sight none of them had seen in a year. The villagers, many of them in tears, cheered and clapped as the men of Grimethorpe Colliery marched back to work accompanied by the village’s world-famous brass band. The miners and their families had endured months of hardship. It had all been for nothing. The miners had lost the strike called on March 6th 1984. They would lose a lot more in the years to come. But was it a good thing for the country that the miners lost their last battle?
Chandler's Mill Chandler's Mill 15 Sep 1990
Chandler's Mill
A historical drama set in 1889, Chandler's Mill examines the plight of workers, and particularly child workers, in the New Brunswick wool industry. The story revolves around the efforts of one young teenage girl to better the lives of her friend and other workers, on the eve of a public hearing of the Canadian Royal Commission on Capital and Labour. Through the use of historical re-enactment, Chandler's Mill explores the issues of child labour, worker's rights and union organizing in 19th-century Canada.