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TODAY’S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW

Strikes Across Time — Casa Bonita to the Washington Post to Ancient Rome

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: three stories of strikes and solidarity in the arts. Casa Bonita performers in Denver walk out for fair pay and safety; journalist Pete Tucker revisits the 1975 Washington Post pressmen’s strike; and historian Sarah Bond’s book Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire uncovers how Roman workers used collective action thousands of years ago.

👉 TUNE IN at 1p this afternoon on WPFW 89.3FM, online or via the new WPFW app (download free from the App Store). Podcast posts at 2p on all platforms. 

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS

Casa Bonita Staff Head to Mediation After Staging Halloween Work Stoppage: Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) members performing at Casa Bonita spent Halloween on the picket line after management walked away from the bargaining table. Following a three-day strike, members headed back to work on Sunday after successfully securing a mediation agreement. Read more.
Meow Wolf Workers Hold Three-Day Strike in Texas: Members of Meow Wolf Workers Collective-Communications Workers of America Local 7055 (MWWC-CWA) in Grapevine, Texas, went on strike over the weekend calling for the entertainment company to stop union-busting and commit to bargaining a fair contract.

Research shows that viewing original works of art can improve your wellbeing: Picture of health: going to art galleries can improve wellbeing, study reveals viewing original works of art can relieve stress, cut heart disease risk and boost immune system, first study of its kind finds. Read more.

‘Out of Print,’ a Shepard Fairey Retrospective, Delves into the Power of Protest: From feminist activist Angela Davis to iconic symbols of peace amid political upheaval, Shepard Fairey is known for his bold illustrations and instantly recognizable posters. Out of Print, a retrospective of Fairey’s work presented by Beyond the Streets, celebrates what the gallery calls “the rebellious, democratic force of ink and paper.” Read more.

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

THU: Labor Heritage Power Hour (radio/online)

FRI: New Luddism: Technology and Resistance in the Modern Workplace (NY)

SAT: Matewan Walking Tour (WV)

ONGOING:

Don't Stand Alone: Black Labor Organizing in New Orleans (LA)

American Labor in Print (MA)

In Camps, Under Trees, and Evicted (CA)

Deadly Deception: The Asbestos Tragedy in McLean County (IL)

Jim Brozek: Honest Work (WI)

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PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK: Casa Bonita performers’ Halloween strike, Read more.

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: "The Power of a Singing Labor Movement"

Labor Troubador Ben Grosscup makes the case that music isn’t just entertainment — it’s a key part of the strategy for labor's success. This 5-minute video shows how group singing on picket lines and at union meetings can lift morale, deepen solidarity, and sharpen the fight for workers’ power. 

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: They All Sang Bread and Roses-George Mann

LABOR ART OF THE WEEK: Street art seen in Quito, Ecuador last weekend. Photo by Chris Garlock

Got labor art? Send it to us! info@laborheritage.org

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  ”We have micro rebellions at all times, and that is what a strike is.”

Historian Sarah Bond on today’s Labor Heritage Power Hour.

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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

1922: A coal mine explosion in Spangler, Pa. kills 79. The mine had been rated gaseous in 1918, but at the insistence of new operators it was rated as non-gaseous even though miners had been burned by gas on at least four occasions. 

LABOR HISTORY TODAY PODCAST: 
On this week’s Labor History Today:
Our friends at America’s Workforce mark Halloween with a chillingly real tale — the untold story of John Henry and his lasting legacy on labor. Host Ed “Flash” Ferenc talks with historian Scott Nelson of the University of Georgia, author of Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend. Nelson uncovers the truth behind the legend of John Henry — a 19-year-old Black convict laborer who died driving steel in a Virginia railroad tunnel — and how his story still echoes through labor history. Plus: Labor History in Two! on the 1835 Philadelphia general strike for the ten-hour day.

What was Boulwarism?

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: The Fair Labor Standards Act established, for the first time, a minimum wage, as well as the 40-hour work week and banned child labor in factories. 

SUPPORT LABOR ARTS!

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

Quilts, Coal, and Courage: Labor Stories You’ll Love (10/30)

Ralph Fasanella, Si Kahn & a Yiddish-Anarchist song (10/23)

Laurel’s Legacy, Fannie Lou & Joe Hill’s Ashes (10/16)

“Forgotten” onstage in Detroit; walking in Matewan (10/10)

Power and Light in a Dark Time (10/3)

In Camps, Under Trees, and Evicted (9/26)

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