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Game On: Overwatch Developers Unionize with CWA: Game developers behind the hit franchise Overwatch have officially unionized, joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA) through the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild-CWA (OWGG-CWA).

Make Art. Build Power. Register Now for GLAE 2025!

The 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange, June 20–22 in Silver Spring, MD, recently released its full slate of workshops and plenaries! From labor music and movement strategy to banner-making, racial justice, and creative organizing, there’s something for everyone.

Space is limited—register now to secure your spot. Scholarships available to ensure access for all.

PLUS: GLAE Hotel Alert: New Discounted Rooms Nearby: Heads up! The Hotel Silver Spring is closing its doors on May 29. But not to worry—LHF has secured a special GLAE rate just down the block at the Courtyard Silver Spring Downtown.

More Films, More Voices: DC Labor FilmFest Continues!

We’re halfway through the 2025 DC Labor FilmFest, but there’s still a powerhouse lineup of must-see films coming up at AFI Silver Theatre!

NINE TO FIVE – Sun, May 18, 2:00 PM

Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton star in this iconic feminist comedy about fighting back against workplace sexism. The screening will be introduced by 9 to 5 co-founder Karen Nussbaum and CLUW President Elise Bryant—don’t miss it!

SEPTEMBER 5 – Tue, May 20, 7:00 PM

Set during the Munich Olympics, this gripping newsroom thriller explores the tension between journalistic ambition and ethics during a global crisis. Featuring Peter Sarsgaard as Roone Arledge.

BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS – Thu, May 22, 6:45 PM

A landmark of the LA Rebellion, this poignant drama offers an intimate portrait of Black working-class life and resilience in 1980s Los Angeles.

Tickets and full schedule

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Postal Workers’ History Comes Alive

Wednesday, May 21, 12–1 PM

Join the DC LaborFest for a special guided tour of the APWU History Center, “The Struggle Continues”—a powerful tribute to the courage, unity, and collective action of America’s postal workers. Explore key moments in labor history, including the Great Postal Strike of 1970, the merger that formed the APWU, and ongoing fights for workers’ rights, safe workplaces, and public postal services. A must-see for anyone interested in the enduring power of union solidarity.

Free and open to the public; register here.

PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK

Local 217 UNITE HERE! @217unitehere May 10 "I am the mother of five young children. Why should I have to choose between drowning and fighting for what’s right when billionaires make more every day? What makes my family less important than theirs?" - Samantha Cedeno, Central Connecticut State University

From PATCO to Trump: Lessons from Labor’s Past for Today’s Fight

On this week’s Labor History Today podcast: In a special crossover episode with the Power At Work podcast, historians Joe McCartin and Veronica Martinez-Matsuda join me and Power At Work host Seth Harris to connect the past to labor’s present “perilous moment.” They explore the legacy of the 1981 PATCO strike, today’s threats to federal workers' rights, the farm labor movement’s long exclusion from labor law, and why history doesn’t swing back on its own—people make it.

CLICK HERE to listen to the show!

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LABOR VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

2025 Solidarity Forever Award: Julie Su introduces Shawn Fain

Julie Su, former Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor, celebrates UAW president Shawn Fain as a game-changing labor leader, and shares some personal insights into the fiery icon.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher received the Labor Heritage Foundation's 2025 Tony Mazzocchi Labor Arts Award for her powerful role in the entertainment workers’ strike and support of labor arts. Here's her acceptance video.

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK

LABOR POEM OF THE WEEK

Felon Couture

Gucci, Louie, Fendi, Prada

Felon is the label I wear.

Turn a mugshot into a photo shoot

Orange jumpsuit

saggin off my glutes.

On the streets,

you probably never knew.

Unless I came through for a job interview.

"Have you ever been convicted of a felony?'

Was question number two.

I checked the box yes.

Then I got the boot!

That was years ago

When Felon was not in season.

When a million blacks needed a job

and THEY needed a reason.

Now Felon is in style.

Everybody rockin' it

even the President...

Thot King, Petersburg, VA, Blue Collar Review

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Those who deplore our militants, who exhort patience in the name of a false peace, are in fact supporting segregation and exploitation. They would have social peace at the expense of social and racial justice. They are more concerned with easing racial tension than enforcing racial democracy.”

Black labor leader and peace activist A. Philip Randolph, who died on this date in 1979. He was president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and first black on the AFL-CIO executive board, and a principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.

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

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

Friday-Tuesday: 'Harlan County' and 'American Dream' (Virtual)

Saturday: American Labor History 101 w/ ATU Local 689 (MD)

Saturday: Manthan [The Churning] (DC Labor FilmFest) (MD)

Sunday: 9 to 5 (DC Labor FilmFest) (MD)

Sunday: Liwanag (Reel Work Labor Film Festival) (CA)

Monday: Singing For Justice (DC Labor FilmFest) (MD)

LABOR HISTORY TODAY

May 16, 1938

U.S. Supreme Court issues Mackay decision, which permits the permanent replacement of striking workers. The decision had little impact until Ronald Regan’s replacement of striking air traffic controllers (PATCO) in 1981, a move that signaled antiunion private sector employers that it was OK to do likewise.

LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

From PATCO to Trump: Lessons from Labor’s Past for Today’s Fight

LABOR HISTORY QUIZ OF THE WEEK

Which of these sparked baseball’s first labor strike?

Owners' demands for team salary caps

Players’ demands for free agency

Detroit Tigers’ team leader Ty Cobb was suspended

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: A longshoremen’s strike on May 9, 1934, to gain control of hiring, led to general strike in the San Francisco Bay area.

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

Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2025 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.

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

Shawn Fain: “Telling workers’ stories is revolutionary” (5/9)

From Equal Pay to Protest Signs: Stories That Move the Movement (5/2)

Strike Wins, Labor Songs, Rosie Reimagined + More (4/25)

Workshops Announced for 2025 Great Labor Arts Exchange (4/18)

AFSCME to Trump: Don’t Close the Book on Libraries (4/11)

“Now is the time to mobilize” (4/4)

Trump's EO “The very definition of union-busting” (3/28)

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