Labor Arts News & Updates

Got Labor Song? Labor Grammy Nominations Are Open!

Nominations are now open for the 2026 Labor Grammys! We’re looking for songs that lift up worker power, unions, and solidarity—music made for picket lines, union halls, and the long tradition of labor culture.

Categories and voting details will be announced soon. 
Click here to nominate and check out the 2025 List Of Labor Grammy Contenders Spotify playlist.

From Outrage to Action

In the wake of Wednesday’s ICE shooting in Minneapolis, join the Labor Heritage Foundation at McGinty’s on January 16 for an urgent and timely “Gonna Take Us All” Ball—an evening of solidarity, music, and action. Jamie Iwugo of the TPSS Community Safety Network and a representative from the MoCo Immigrant Rights Collective will report on anti-ICE organizing and concrete ways you can get involved right now. We’ll also honor recently retired LHF staffer Hetty Scofield, and the DC Labor Chorus will lead songs of solidarity.

Tickets: $15 ($10 for LHF members) — includes a free drink ticket.

 👉 Get tickets.

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

The Hidden Shift. Artist Ting Tong Chang murder mystery film is set in a fictional macaroni factory, where the factory owner is found dead and each character carries their own potential motives and suspicions. Showing at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh through to January 2027.  Click here for more information.

Baristas vs. Billionaires (2025)  Powerful documentary tells the inside story of the Starbucks union movement — as told by the baristas themselves.  Click here to find showtimes and locations.

Deadly Deception: The Asbestos Tragedy in McLean County (IL). Exhibit reveals the hidden history of Bloomington’s UNARCO asbestos plant—spotlighting workers’ struggles, deadly conditions, and the national fight for justice that unfolded in our own backyard.  On display in the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington, IL until 2027.

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW


Labor organizer Eric Dirnbach talks with Dave Kamper about the post-pandemic union upsurge, followed by a report from Italy’s Working Class Literature Festival, where workers are occupying a factory and telling their own stories.

PLUS: The 1916 Youngstown Massacre and Carsie Blanton’s “Little Flame”.

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS


Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Owners Couldn’t Bust the Union, So They Shut Down the Paper: After years of wasting millions of dollars losing court battles in attempts to deny their workers’ basic rights, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) announced Wednesday afternoon it would shut down May 3. Read more.

DreamWorks Remote Workers, Netflix and ‘Ted’ Show Production Workers Vote to Form Unions: In three separate National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) victories, DreamWorks Animation remote workers, feature production staff at Netflix Animation Studios and production workers on the show “Ted” have voted to join with The Animation Guild (TAG), IATSE Local 839, and the Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 700. Read more.

Barnes & Noble Workers in Connecticut Win First Contract: Members of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 919 who work at a Barnes & Noble location in North Haven, Connecticut, unanimously ratified their first contract. Read more.

Milwaukee Discovery World Workers Vote to Join the IAM Union: Approximately 56 Science museum workers at Discovery World in Milwaukee have overwhelmingly voted to join the IAM. This vote marks a significant victory in their campaign for fair compensation, a clear path to career advancement, and a real voice on the job. Read more.

- reports from AFL-CIO Daily Brief & IAM

"So Many Ways to Kill a CEO" – Dave Rovics


“A lot of people have thoughts and opinions related to Luigi Mangione and his deeds.” 
Song by David Rovics, video brought to you by Reel News.

Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow.
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PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
Striking Post-Gazette workers posed with a homemade sign outside the newspaper's North Shore offices on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. The sign was created by Katrina Pyo, wife of striker Rick Davis, within moments after the union heard it had won a significant victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. (Jason Cohn)
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org

LABOR SONGS Of The Week
(above) Say Her Name Renee Nicole Good – Steve Jones

Words and music by Steve Jones (DC Labor Chorus); video by Saul Schniderman (LHF Board Chair).
(below) Joe Hill – Joan Baez live at Woodstock 1969
On this date in 1914, Wobblie organizer and singer Joe Hill allegedly killed two men during a grocery store hold-up in Utah. He ultimately was executed by firing squad (His last word was “Fire!”) for the crime despite much speculation that he was framed.



LABOR ART OF THE WEEK
Two of the winning submissions in the 2025 IATSE Holiday Photo Contest: (above) Local 873’s Jeffrey Craig Orr’s tech version of a Christmas tree; (below): Local 479’s Mark Klopper’s IATSE crew shot. See more photos here.

Got labor art? Send your suggestions to us: info@laborheritage.org

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

1918

A Mediation Commission appointed by President Woodrow Wilson finds that "industry’s failure to deal with unions" is the prime reason for labor strife in war industries.

1939

Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union leads Missouri Highway sit-down of 1,700 families. They had been evicted from their homes so landowners wouldn't have to share government crop subsidy payments with them.

2003

The administration of George W. Bush declares federal airport security screeners will not be allowed to unionize so as not to "complicate" the war on terrorism. The decision was challenged and eventually overturned after Bush left office.
photo: Authur, Rothstein, Evicted sharecroppers along Highway 60, New Madrid County, Missouri, January 1939, FSA-OWI Collection, Library of Congress, LC-USF33-002927-M1.

This week on Labor History Today, we trace a path from repression to resistance—from the 1917 Tom Mooney trial and the 2006 Sago Mine disaster to workers in today’s Italy using culture and collective action to imagine and build a different future.

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: On December 28, 1936, auto workers began a sit-down strike for union recognition at GM’s Fisher Body plant in Cleveland.

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