Labor Arts News & Updates

Ghost Parks and Forgotten Graves: Labor’s Hidden Landmarks

On this week’s Labor History Today, Chris Garlock explores how workers’ struggles reshape physical landscapes—from a park in Hamilton altered after the 1946 Stelco strike to a possibly vanished gravestone marking the 1929 Marion Massacre in North Carolina—drawing on LHF's new Labor Landmarks Map (pro tip: click on "List" view); plus, Tales from the Reuther Library marks its 100th episode and Labor History in 2:00 highlights key milestones in labor history.

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

FRI/SAT: The Inquisitor (Virtual)

FRI/SAT/SUN: A Brick and a Bible (MO)

SAT: Brotherhood in the Civil Rights Era (IL)

Ongoing: I Don’t Want Your Millions (Billions), Mister (Canada); Made in America (NYC); The Hidden Shift (PA); Deadly Deception (IL)

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW


Goliath at Sunset, Comrades in Arms

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: former shipyard welder and activist Jonathan Brandow talks about his new novel Goliath at Sunset, inspired by rank-and-file organizing and multiracial solidarity in the 1970s Boston shipyards. Plus, the DC Labor Chorus is featured in Jay Mallin’s “Highly Visible” video; Set the Earth on Fire author David Correia’s favorite labor song; Labor History in 2:00 with Rick Smith; and the latest labor arts and culture news.

Your contributions power the Power Hour on our home station, WPFW 89.3FM; please give generously here (be sure to select “The Labor Heritage Power Hour” on the dropdown menu)!

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS

Hearst Magazines Union Ratifies New Contract: Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) members at Hearst Magazines have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. This victory came after members delivered a strike pledge signed by more than 85% of the unit and participated in walkouts and rallies calling for a fair contract. Read more.

Despite the odds, workers at Utah’s first library union win contract: When workers at Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) announced their unionization efforts with AFSCME Local 1004 in April 2023, they never anticipated that the road to success would be fraught with so many challenges. Fortunately, they were determined to persevere no matter what. Read more.

UE Solidarity Mural Restoration Nears Completion: The historic UE Solidarity Mural—once the centerpiece of the United Electrical Workers’ Chicago hall—is nearing full restoration. After UE sold its longtime Chicago headquarters, major sections were carefully removed and preserved for installation in the CTU Building in Chicago and the UE Hall in Erie, Pennsylvania. Retired UE General President Carl Rosen reports that restoration is nearly complete and that $10,000 is still needed to finish the project. Click here for details and/or to contribute.

Includes reports from AFL-CIO Daily Brief, AFSCME newsletter, UE

Victorian Trades Hall Gets Closer To World Heritage Status: The iconic Victorian Trades Hall in Melbourne has been nominated for World Heritage consideration. Believed to be the oldest purpose-built Workers Assembly Hall in the world still used by trade unions, the hall has hosted campaigns that have gone on to change Australia including the 8-hour workday movement. The Workers Museum in Copenhagen examined hundreds of halls from around the world before selecting the Victorian Trades Hall as one of four exemplar candidates for nomination. The application has been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration. Read more. 

IWW Whatcom-Skagit Branch Re-Launches Film Series
The Whatcom and Skagit County branch of the Industrial Workers of the World has launched its 2026 film screening series at The Karate Church in Bellingham, Washington. Branch Secretary Dave Tucker tells us the Branch has presented community film screenings for years, but they were put on hiatus during the COVID pandemic. The screenings returned last year, and audiences have been growing in 2026. Free screenings this year include Labor Wars Of The Northwest, Norma Rae, and Bread and Roses. “The idea is to get people to come to a movie and have a discussion afterwards,” Tucker says. “We can all use a little entertainment these days.” Read more.

Labor Notes Registration Closes Early — Wait List Now Open

Registration has officially closed for this year’s Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, June 12–14 — the earliest the gathering has ever filled to capacity. The conference, which also hosts this year’s Great Labor Arts Exchange, reached its limit weeks ahead of schedule. Organizers have established a registration wait list for those who were not able to secure a spot.

Find more information about the conference and join the wait list at LaborNotes.org/2026.

NEW! 
LABOR LANDMARK OF THE WEEK

Loray Mill Strike historical marker: The 1929 Loray Mill strike in Gastonia, NC, drew national attention and deadly violence, becoming a pivotal and contested chapter in Southern labor history.

Thanks to James Benton for submitting this site to LHF’s new Labor Landmark Map. Got labor landmark? Submit it here!

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Orwell 2+2=5

George Orwell was one of the most visionary authors of the 20th century, whose novels 1984 and Animal Farm foretold a chilling, all-too-believable authoritarian future.

NOTE: This is one of the films in the running for both the 2026 Labor Oscar and inclusion in the 2026 DC Labor FilmFest.  
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org

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PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
@nyguild outside @propublica headquarters in NYC with @propublicaguild members.
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org

LABOR SONG Of The Week: Seth Staton Watkins 

LABOR ART OF THE WEEK
Posted @SEIU925: “There’s always a place for you on Solidarity Street. Solidarity with our union siblings at @SesameWorkersU! #UnionsForAll #UnionMemes” 

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

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The federal government responded with tactics of targeted censorship—surveillance, harassment and threats of prosecution—and branded a small Black labor magazine ‘the most dangerous’ publication in the country simply for encouraging Black workers to organize. More than a century later, two highly respected Black journalists—Don Lemon and Georgia Fort—are handcuffed and indicted for filming a protest inside a church. The tools have changed, but the oppressive government playbook has not.”

Fred Redmond, Secretary Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, in his Black Press USA op-ed.

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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

1875: Legendary labor leader and socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs becomes charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Five years later he is leading the national union and in 1893 helps found the nation’s first industrial union, the American Railway Union.

1902: Birth of John Steinbeck in Salinas, Calif. Steinbeck is best known for writing “The Grapes of Wrath,” which exposed the mistreatment of migrant farm workers during the Depression and led to some reforms.

1937: 450 Woolworth’s workers and customers occupy store for eight days in support of Waiters and Waitresses Union, Detroit. 

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: Representatives of the Knights of Labor and the United Mine Workers met on February 22, 1892 in St. Louis with 20 other organizations to plan the founding convention of the People’s Party. Objectives: end political corruption, spread the wealth, and combat the oppression of the rights of workers and farmers.

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

Songs of Revolution and Protest (2/20) 
Striking At Kings (2/13)

Songs for Minneapolis (2/6)

A Brick and a Bible (1/30)

Minneapolis Solidarity Edition! Bruce, Billy & Friends sing out (1/28)

Murderous billionaires, labor’s racial divide, DC Labor Chorus (1/23)