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THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW
Striking At Kings
This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, latest labor arts news, including Lottie Walker’s one-woman show about East London union leader Sarah Wesker and the return of the Labor Oscars. We hear from songwriter Mindy Murray about her powerful new song “Striking at Kings,” inspired by the 1938 King Farm strike, plus 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.
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WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR
FRI: Opening Reception | Fightbacks! and I Don’t Want Your Millions (Billions), Mister (Ontario, Canada)
Ongoing:
Work in Progress (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
A multi-phase redesign of the Hamilton Workers Arts & Heritage Centre’s heritage exhibits unfolding until 2027 – reimagines how working people’s stories are told, and who gets to tell them. Click here for more information.
Also at the Hamilton Workers Arts & Heritage Centre: Drawing on Jay Youngdahl’s experience working with trade unions as a lawyer, organizer, and member, the exhibit I Don’t Want Your Millions (Billions), Mister proposes two ideas: that all workers are artists, and despite differences working people can build solidarity through collective struggle. More information here.
Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne (New York City, NY)
Ting Tong Chang The Hidden Shift (Pittsburgh, PA)
Deadly Deception: The Asbestos Tragedy in McLean County (Bloomington, IL)
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LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS
Vancouver’s Rio Theatre Workers Ratify First Union Agreement: 26 workers at Vancouver’s historic Rio Theatre have overwhelmingly ratified their first CBA with IATSE Local B778. Read more.
Ubisoft workers go on international strike: We recently reported that five French labor unions representing employees at Ubisoft called for an unprecedented global strike against the video game maker. This week they followed through. At least 1,200 employees participated in the strike, mainly in France and Milan. Read more.
Culture Sector Strikes Sweep Across Europe: Public museums and cultural institutions across Europe are experiencing unprecedented closures amid strikes by workers protesting austerity policies and deteriorating working conditions. The disputes reflect a wider trend in Europe since mid-2025, resulting in museums, galleries, libraries and cultural organisations in Portugal, the UK and Germany reacting with work stoppages, walkouts and demonstrations. Read more.
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Join LHF—Keep the Art and Soul of the Labor Movement Alive
Labor culture doesn’t happen by accident. It survives because people show up. At a time when workers are organizing, resisting, and reimagining their futures, the Labor Heritage Foundation helps connect generations and movements through music, film, radio, art, and history. Your membership helps sustain the artists, storytellers, and independent labor media that keep those connections alive.
Join the Labor Heritage Foundation today and help keep the art and soul of the labor movement strong!
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LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Lowell: The Continuing Revolution
“At Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts, the Trump administration has ordered employees to stop showing films about the grueling conditions endured by mill workers in the early 19th century, including long hours and low wages, according to two people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. Officials viewed these films as implicit critiques of the Gilded Age, a period that the president has idealized, the two people said.”
How the National Park Service Is Deleting American History (NYT 1/23/26)
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org
| | Forward the LHF newsletter to friends, family, colleagues and help us reach our goal of 10,000 readers! 👉 Subscribe free | | PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
@AFLCIO Kaiser’s delay tactics are causing harm to health care workers and their patients. Surgeries cancelled. Delays in critical care. All because Kaiser won’t get to the bargaining table. Solidarity with the 31,000+ @UNACUHCP nurses and health care workers fighting for a fair contract.
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org | | LABOR SONG Of The Week: When that Man is Dead and Gone
Lizzy & the Triggermen; 1941 Protest song against Hitler (Live Take) | | |
LABOR ART OF THE WEEK
From Jay Youngdahl’s solo exhibition I Don’t Want Your Millions (Billions), Mister at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (opening tonight), drawing on Jay’s experience working with trade unions as a lawyer, organizer, and member.
Got labor art? Send your suggestions to us: info@laborheritage.org
| | LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From the initiation of the Sons of Vulcan, which said the union’s purpose is
“To inculcate brotherly love and friendship among all members, and obliterate all lines of demarcation caused by creed or nationality.” | | Like this newsletter? Help us spread labor art by passing it along! | | CLICK HERE for our complete labor arts calendar; look for our Labor Arts Calendar edition on Monday | | |
TODAY’S LABOR HISTORY
1865: A national eight-month strike by the Sons of Vulcan, a union of iron forgers, ended in victory when employers agreed to a wage scale based on the price of iron bars—the first time employers recognized the union, the first union contract in the iron and steel industry, and what may be the first union contract of any kind in the United States.
2008: Some 12,000 Hollywood writers returned to work today following a largely-successful three-month strike against television and motion picture studios. They won compensation for their TV and movie work that gets streamed on the Internet.
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The Greensboro Sit-Ins and the Power of Direct Action
This week on Labor History Today: The 66th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins — a turning point that helped ignite the modern Civil Rights Movement and reshaped American politics. We feature an in-depth conversation from The Green and Red Podcast, tracing the origins of the sit-in movement, from Greensboro and Nashville to the rise of SNCC, and exploring how militant nonviolence, media exposure, and youth-led organizing forced a national reckoning — with powerful parallels to today’s struggles against state violence.
Then, on Labor History in 2:00, we revisit another watershed moment in collective action: the 1919 Seattle General Strike, when tens of thousands of workers shut down a city and demonstrated the power of solidarity.
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| Which U.S. president created the Department of Commerce and Labor? | | | | LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: Union miners in Cripple Creek, CO on February 7, 1894 began what would become a five-month strike that started when mineowners cut wages to $2.50 a day, from $3. The state militia was called out in support of the strikers – the only time in U.S. history that a militia was directed to side with the workers. The strike ended in victory for the union. | | |
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Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2026 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!).
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