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EDITOR’S NOTE: Thank you. For caring about labor arts and history. For believing they make a difference. And for supporting the Labor Heritage Foundation. If you’re considering end-of-year tax-deductible contributions, please consider LHF, where every dollar donated here is doubled, enabling us to bring you even more inspiring coverage in the year to come. Thank you.
Chris
photo: Musician and activist Carsie Blanton at the 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange; photo by Chris Garlock.
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Favorite and Sacred Songs Return with the DC Labor Chorus
The DC Labor Chorus will ring out the year at their annual Favorite and Sacred Songs concert coming up on Saturday, December 6, 7p at the Washington Ethical Society. “We'll be singing songs of the labor movement past and present, songs we hold dear to our hearts, and songs we love to sing together.”
FREE but please RSVP here.
photo: at the DCLC 2025 holiday concert; photo by Chris Garlock
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THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW
Work Songs
This week's Labor Heritage Power Hour: Workers have been singing while working and singing about working since antiquity; the Heartland Labor Forum’s Mark Galus plays classics from Billy Bragg, Joe Glazer and Anne Feeney as well as some more obscure folk and punk tracks.
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Denver’s Labor Story Comes Alive, Step by Step
Labor history came alive in downtown Denver earlier this month when Robert Lindgren, Political and Organizing Director of the Colorado AFL-CIO — and longtime Labor Heritage Foundation supporter — led a Colorado Labor History walking tour as part of the 19th Annual American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Conference.
The group visited the site of the historic 1920 Denver street car strike. “We discussed the past and current organizing efforts of the IATSE Local 7 at their union hall in the heart of the Denver theater district,” Lindgren told LHF. IATSE not only provides sound at many of Colorado's historic venues like Red Rocks Amphitheater, workers are currently negotiating contacts with Casa Bonita, a unique cultural institution in Colorado. The tour ended at the historic Denver Press Club, the oldest continually operating press club in the country and an ardent supporter of local journalism.
photo: outside IATSE Local 7 in Denver's Theater District.
NOTE: LHF connected conference organizers with Robert Lindgren. If your organization would like to arrange a similar labor history tour in your city or town, email info@laborheritage.org — we’ll do our best to make it happen!
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Maine’s State Theatre Workers Approve Their First Labor Agreement
Workers at the State Theatre in Portland, Maine, approved their first contract with Crobo, the venue’s operator, after nearly a year of negotiations. Read more.
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Theater for the People
Working Theater’s Artistic Director Colm Summers reminds us that “the history of American theater is written in labor plays.” From The Brothers Size at The Shed to Queens at New York City Center, this fall’s revivals put working-class stories and underserved communities center stage — honoring a tradition that runs from Death of a Salesman to Skeleton Crew. Read more.
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Tom Breiding’s Music Lands at Pittsburgh Airport
Musician and LHF friend Tom Breiding shares exciting news: his music is now part of the new Pittsburgh International Airport terminal experience. Immersion: A Pittsburgh Sound Portrait—created by Narduli Studios—features several tracks from “When We Shine: 15 Songs About Pittsburgh,” the 2008 project Breiding produced with Rick Malis.
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Support Labor History with the 2026 PNLHA Calendar
The 2026 PNLHA Labor History Calendar is now available, offering a thoughtful look at the stories, struggles, and victories of working people across the Pacific Northwest. Each month features historical context and reflections on current labor issues, while daily entries highlight key anniversaries, notable figures, and milestones from the broader labor movement. Purchasing the calendar also helps sustain the work of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association. Proceeds support student paper prizes, community commemorations, landmark and walking tour projects, and the conferences and programs that bring labor history to life for new generations. Click here to order.
| | | If you SEE something, SHARE something! Forward the LHF newsletter to friends, family, colleagues and help us reach our goal of 10,000 readers! 👉 Subscribe free | | PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK: Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org | | |
LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? | Alpha Metallurgical Resources confirms death of foreman
“I wanted to submit this piece of art for the newsletter,” writes Paige Reiring. “I know it’s a bit different than usual; more like a music video than anything else. I hope that’s okay :)”
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LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Our cause is a common one. It is war between poverty and wealth. … This moneyed power is fast eating up the substance of the people. We have made war upon it, and we mean to win it. If we can, we will win through the ballot box; if not, then we shall resort to sterner means.”
- William Sylvis, founder of the National Labor Union, born November 28, 1828.
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LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: Join Us in a Union Song
Song recorded "virtually" by members of the Left Coast Labour Chorus (LCLC) and sound engineer Cameron Golinsky. Video by Lucas Meijer; song written by Paul McKenna
| | Like this newsletter? Help us spread labor art by passing it along! | | CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday | | |
TODAY’S LABOR HISTORY
1891: National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, precursor to IBEW, founded.
1908: 154 men die in a coal mine explosion at Marianna, Pa. Engineer and General Superintendent A.C. Beeson tells the local newspaper he had been in the mine a few minutes before the blast and had found it to be in perfect condition.
1953: Some 400 New York City photoengravers working for the city’s newspapers, supported by 20,000 other newspaper unionists, begin what is to become an 11-day strike, shutting down the papers.
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LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST:
Where’s our Forty Acres And A Mule?
On this week’s Labor History Today: Historian and former UAW organizer Rudi Batzell joins America’s Workforce Union Podcast to explain how the failure of land reform after slavery — and employers’ use of racial division and strikebreaking — shaped the early U.S. labor movement. From “40 acres and a mule” to the CIO, Batzell shows how race and class remain inseparable in American labor history.
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| Which of these was NOT one of Eliza McDowell’s nicknames? | | | | LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: Flight attendants celebrated the signing into law a smoking ban on all U.S. domestic flights on November 21,1989. | | |
SUPPORT LABOR ARTS!
Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2026 program, which includes our annual Solidarity Forever Award, the Great Labor Arts Exchange, the DC Labor FilmFest and much more (check out our website for details!).
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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