News & Updates

WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE:

🎬 Labor Arts News Briefs: SNL VFX artists ratify their first union contract; SAG-AFTRA video game performers secure AI protections; AFSCME’s Ray Liu goes from Emmy-winning cameraman to park film office MVP

🎭 Weekend Labor Arts Calendar: Films, forums, walks, and more from LaborFest in San Francisco to High Iron in Wyoming and online events

🎙️ This Week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: Michael Ansara on The Hard Work of Hope, John Lewis remembered, and the latest labor arts victories

📺 Labor Video of the Week: “Which Side Are You On” – Dropkick Murphys

📢 Picket Sign of the Week: Freedom, Fairness & Security bus tour calls out the growing inequality

🎵 Labor Song of the Week: “Good Trouble” – Linda Allen & Louis Ledford

📚 Labor History Today Podcast: Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute—space strikes and Charleston hospital workers win recognition

📅 Today in Labor History: Strikes by telegraphers, stockyard workers, and hospital staff

❓ Labor History Quiz: What year did postal unions sign their first labor contract?

Labor Arts News Briefs

'Saturday Night Live’ VFX Artists Ratify Historic First Union Contract: Visual effects (VFX) workers at “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) unanimously ratified their first union contract. The contract brings significant improvements, including establishing a minimum wage scale, securing ongoing health care benefits, offering annuity contributions, providing “kill fees” for artists hired for projects canceled before completion, implementing a robust grievance process, and creating critical artificial intelligence and outsourcing protections. Read more.

Video Game Workers and Industry Agree to AI Restrictions in New Labor Contract: In national voting, SAG-AFTRA members approved the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Interactive Media Agreement with a “yes” vote of 95.04%, ratifying the deal. The new contract includes performer safety guardrails and gains around artificial intelligence (AI), including consent and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use and the ability for performers to suspend consent for the generation of new material during a strike. Read more.

Behind the Scenes, Center Stage: Ray Liu's Second Act: AFSCME Local 3090’s Ray Liu went from Emmy-winning cameraman to behind-the-scenes hero at LA’s Park Film Office, thanks to a chance encounter at a Glendale dog park. After a 30-year TV career, Liu now uses his industry expertise to ensure film productions in LA’s iconic parks run safely and smoothly—helping coordinate everything from soap operas to Tom Cruise stunts on the Hollywood sign. His dedication, teamwork, and love for his city earned him a nomination for AFSCME’s Never Quit Award. Read more.

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

Fri: LaborFest: Argentina, Milei and The Working Class

Fri: LaborFest: 15th Annual San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Awards Dinner

Fri: Laborfest: The Great Dictator (CA)

Sat: LaborFest: LaborTech Conference (CA)

Sat: LaborFest: FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA–film and discussion (Online)

Sat: High Iron (WY)

Sun: LaborFest: Berkeley Radical 60s Walk by Harvey Smith (CA)

Sun: LaborFest: Watsonville On Strike & Daughters On The Strike – 40th Anniversary Screening (CA)

PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK

@WorkingAmerica: Our brothers and sisters at the @aflcio came together to launch a bus tour for Freedom, Fairness, and Security. Workers in this country are not stupid - we see what's going on. The rich getting richer, and the rest of us working harder and longer to keep up with the basics

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Which Side Are You On - Dropkick Murphys

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK

Good Trouble: Linda Allen · Louis Ledford Yesterday, across the country, people gathered in grassroots events to speak out, sing out, and stand up for justice. The Good Trouble Lives On protest was based on the term "good trouble" coined by American politician and civil rights leader John Lewis, who died on July 17, 2020.

The Hard Work of Hope

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: Activist Michael Ansara reflects on a lifetime of organizing in a conversation with Ron Carver about his new memoir, The Hard Work of Hope. We honor John Lewis with “Good Trouble,” hear from Joe Hill Award winner Mark Dimondstein, and celebrate recent labor wins in the arts. Plus: labor history, Ida B. Wells, the 1934 General Strike, and more.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show!

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CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday

LABOR HISTORY TODAY

1883: The Brotherhood of Telegraphers begins an unsuccessful three-week strike against the Western Union Telegraph Co.

1919: 35,000 Chicago stockyard workers strike.

1969: Hospital workers win 113-day union recognition strike in Charleston, S.C.

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“An organization of intellectual workers can have the greatest significance for society as a whole by influencing public opinion through publicity and education. Indeed, it is the proper task to defend academic freedom, without which a healthy development of democracy is impossible.”

Albert Einstein, member of AFT 552

LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

Houston, We Have a Labor Dispute

Did astronauts really go on strike in space? On this week’s Labor History Today, Meagan Day investigates the legend of the 1973 Skylab 4 “strike” and uncovers what really happened—and why it still matters. Plus, hospital workers win union recognition in 1969 Charleston on Labor History in 2:00.

LABOR HISTORY QUIZ OF THE WEEK

What year did Postal unions and the Postal Service sign the first labor contract?

1871

1936

1971

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: 13 white waiters in San Francisco struck against the employment of African Americans on July 13, 1883; this led to the formation of the White Cooks and Waiters Union.

"The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too."

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