News & Updates

No Union, No Dancing: AGMA Pickets Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Season Opener

The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and local labor allies protested the Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s (DBDT’s) season opener Friday over the sudden termination of nine main-company members this summer. This union-busting move by the DBDT came after performers unanimously voted to join AGMA in May. Members and supporters rallied outside Moody Performance Hall with an inflatable Scabby the Rat and called for attendees to join them on the picket line.

AFL-CIO Daily Brief

CLICK HERE to listen to the show!

THE LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR: Union: The film, the campaign: On this week's show, we talk with Brett Story and Stephen Maing, the directors of the new film Union, which follows the Amazon Labor Union's historic journey to victory, as, up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York. PLUS: A visit with a labor lawyer who’s teaching a class in labor movies, and, on Labor History in 2:00, Labor’s “Magna Carta.”

Union screens at the Avalon on Wednesday, October 23 at 8p; tickets here.

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LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK

A Song About Why Billionaires Suck - Boomer Stoop

PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK

Posted by AFA United MEC

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“We have this nice blow-up of Jeff Bezos here over my shoulder. You’d think they would have learned their lesson the last time we kicked their ass when they messed with us.”

NY State Senator Michael Gianaris, at a rally in Queens, where Amazon drivers at the trillion-dollar company’s facility there are demanding that Amazon recognize their union and deliver a Teamsters contract.

LABOR ART OF THE WEEK

Can Art Change the World?

Traveling to different regions across the globe, French artist JR envisions grand projects that call to humanitarian issues and collective action. At the forefront of his practice is a persistent query, rooted in a palpable yearning for change and strong belief in the power of art. JR: Can Art Change the World? chronicles the artist’s phenomenal range of participatory efforts, from mural-laden buildings to photographic installations to performance art. Originally published in 2015 and later updated in 2019, an even newer edition featuring a half-decade of JR’s latest works is slated for release by Phaidon later this month. The 2024 version includes a whopping 390 photos and illustrations, as well as a foreword by George Lucas.

Colossal

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

'Gumbo Coalition' with Special Guest Marc Morial - Q&A

Friday, October 18, 2024, 6:20 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

Union

Friday, October 18, 2024, 7:30 PM; Dryden Theatre, 900 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607

The Cradle Will Rock (Baltimore)

Friday, October 18, 2024, 7:30 PM; Saturday, October 19, 2024, 7:30 PM; Sunday, October 20, 2024, 4:00 PM

D.C. Labor Chorus Sing-Along Concert

Friday, October 18, 2024, 7:30 PM; 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, MD

Can't Miss Shorts Collection with 'Artificial', 'Burn Out' - Q&A

Friday, October 18, 2024, 8:50 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

'The Empty Chair' - Inside the Fight to Unionize Starbucks - Q&A

Saturday, October 19, 2024, 4:40 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

Coit Tower 90th Anniversary Mural Tour

Saturday, October 19, 2024, 6:00 PM; Coit Tower, 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94133

'The Edge of Nature' Sneak Preview - Climate Change Doc - Q&A

Saturday, October 19, 2024, 7:15 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

Shorts Collection with 'Adidas Owns the Reality', 'Artificial'

Saturday, October 19, 2024, 9:50 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

'Campo de Santana: Paradise In the Middle of Chaos' - Q&A

Sunday, October 20, 2024, 3:40 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

'Fire Department, Inc' and 'Foot Soldiers for Democracy'

Sunday, October 20, 2024, 6:20 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

'Limits of Europe' - The Divide Between East and West

Sunday, October 20, 2024, 8:30 PM; Cinema Village, 22 East 12th St, New York, NY 10003

LABOR HISTORY TODAY

October 18, 1911 New York City agrees to pay women school teachers a rate equal to that of men

LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW!

Labor History Today: Bill Pancoast’s Road to Matewan

“I could not put this away. Once I saw what happened here: the orange Tug River from the strip mines…the strip mining, the desecration, the poverty. I owed it to the world to tell what happened.”

LABOR HISTORY QUIZ OF THE WEEK

What was the first labor organization in what would later become the United States?

The Shoemakers of Boston

The South Bay Teamsters

The Massachusetts Carpenters

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: The 1914 Clayton Antitrust Act is also known as "Labor’s Magna Carta", for the first time freeing unions to strike, picket and boycott employers.

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

Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2024 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

Chippendales Dancers’ Newest Act – Unionizing! (10/11)

Not Playing Around: World of Warcraft Workers Win Union (10/4)

Bill Lucy: “Change is possible” (9/27)

‘Equal Pay for Equal Paint!’ (9/20)

Dallas Black Dancers Fight for Their Union (9/13)

Netflix hit “The Union” is a miss (9/6)

Labor Day weekend films, music & more! (8/30)

No justice, no dancing (8/23)

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