Labor Arts News & Updates

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR


Fri: LaborFest: US Premier Screening of “When ICE Melts" (Virtual)

Sat: Three Roads: Labor, Music, Ecology Concert & Book Signing (IL)

Got a Labor event? Email us: info@laborheritage.org

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW
Striking At Kings

This week on The Labor Heritage Power Hour: We hear from songwriter Mindy Murray about her powerful song “Striking at Kings,” inspired by the 1938 King Farm strike, plus latest labor arts news and a Labor History in 2:00 look at the 1903 Oxnard Strike. Young adult author J. Albert Mann interviews labor journalist Kim Kelly about Fight to Win and teaching labor history to young people, and we close with a fearless, funny, and furious moment from Carsie Blanton, calling for solidarity and dignity for working musicians.

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS


Jesse Welles, Graham Nash Cancel Concerts In Support Of Striking Workers: Welles canceled his sold-out show Wednesday afternoon. Nash followed suit, saying he was canceling his Friday concert, citing the striking workers. Read more.

SAG-AFTRA Backs WGA, State AG Opposition to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger: The union's Board resolution puts on record its demand that the acquisition not proceed unless there are enforceable safeguards against reduced production. Read more.

‘Star Wars’ VFX Workers Unionize With IATSE: The new bargaining unit includes U.S. workers who contribute to titles including "The Mandalorian & Grogu," "Ahsoka," and "Star Wars: Starfighter." Read more.

AFM Local 802 Reaches Agreement with Metropolitan Opera: The deal follows extensive negotiations during which representatives of the Met's associate musicians pushed to achieve wage parity with their Met Orchestra colleagues. Read more

AGMA’s Staff Union Ratifies First Union Contract: "AGMA is pro-union to its core, and I believe this process demonstrated exactly that," said AGMA's National Executive Director Jeffrey Boyd. Read more.

Detroit Historical Society Staff Seek Union: The workers are part of the organization that operates the Detroit Historical Museum and Dossin Great Lakes Museum. Read more

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Newsies Live - Seize the Day

July 20 was the anniversary of the 1899 New York Newsboy’s Strike. The Broadway show “Newsies” (and, later, the 1992 Disney film) was based on that strike and featured several showstoppers, including “Seize The Day” This is an excerpt from the 2019 King’s Academy production of the play.
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org

PICKET SIGNS OF THE WEEK

(Above) After Roofers Local 149 asked for support in its dispute with Stellantis, building trades unions from across the Midwest rallied on July 21 at the automaker's Metro Detroit Megahub construction site in Van Buren Township. Union members from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and other states joined the picket, accusing Stellantis of bypassing its collective bargaining agreement by hiring nonunion, out-of-town labor to build the new distribution center. Marching alongside inflatable Scabby the Rat and other protest symbols, the workers presented a united front in defense of union contracts and local labor.

(Below) Picketers gathered outside Richmond's Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden amid a union campaign for higher wages, as musician Jesse Welles canceled his performance in solidarity with the workers. According to RVA Magazine, striking workers, supporters, and fans rallied outside the gates, while a reporter attempting to speak with garden staff was told to leave the property.

Got a picket sign? Email us: info@laborheritage.org 

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LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: Jesse Welles – The Poor (Live at Farm Aid 40)

Got a Labor song? Email us: info@laborheritage.org

LABOR LANDMARK OF THE WEEK
John Montgomery Ward Historical Marker

Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

John Montgomery "Monty" Ward (1860–1925) was an early baseball star, lawyer, and pioneering labor organizer who founded the sport's first players' union, the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, in 1885. He led the fight against the reserve clause and helped launch the Players League in 1890, laying the foundation for modern free agency and labor rights in professional sports.
Details on the LHF Labor Landmarks Map.

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Patriotism, Paranoia, and Labor on Trial

On this week’s Labor History Today: Historian Dr. Jeffrey Johnson tells the story of the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing and the infamous frame-up of labor leader Tom Mooney, who spent more than two decades behind bars before his eventual release and pardon. Recorded live at the 9th Annual Reuther-Pollock Labor History Symposium, Johnson explores how xenophobia, anti-labor fervor, and miscarriages of justice from a century ago still echo loudly today.

Plus, on Labor History in 2:00: The Battle of Blair Mountain.

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

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY

1970: Members of the National Football League Players Association begin what is to be a two-day strike, their first.

1981: A fifty-day baseball strike ends.

1999: The Great Shipyard Strike of 1999 ends after Steelworkers at Newport News Shipbuilding ratify a breakthrough agreement which nearly doubles pensions, increases security, ends inequality, and provides the highest wage increases in company and industry history to nearly 10,000 workers at the yard. The strike lasted 15 weeks

Find more labor history in the LHF Labor Arts & Culture Database.

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: The United Auto Workers and the Teamsters formed the Alliance for Labor Action (ALA) on July 24, 1968, later to be joined by several smaller unions. The ALA's agenda included support of the civil rights movement and opposition to the war in Viet Nam. It disbanded after four years following the death of UAW President Walter Reuther.

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