Labor Arts News & Updates

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR


Sat: Made in Hamilton Walking Tour (ON)

Tues: Scabmuggers (CA)

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

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW
The Labor History of Soccer: This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: Simon Sapper explores the working-class roots of soccer, Gabe Logan tells the story of Detroit's factory and workers' soccer teams, Augustus Wood examines the dismantling of Black labor power in Atlanta, plus latest labor news briefs and Labor History in 2:00 remembers the 1381 execution of Peasants' Revolt leader John Ball.

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS


Games Workers March at Xbox Studios: For the first time in the industry's history, games workers marched in six places at once, in four cities, across two countries. Read more.

PLUS: Unions take legal action against Microsoft for allegedly mishandling Xbox layoffs

Photo: Bethesda System Designer Mandi Parker addresses a crowd of hundreds gathered in front of Zenimax headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.

AGMA and Opera Colorado Reach Historic Agreement Honoring the Artists Who Bring Operatic Storytelling to Colorado: The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and Opera Colorado have jointly announced their first-ever collective bargaining agreement. Read more.

WGA Enters Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Fray: After praising state attorneys general for filing suit to stop Paramount Skydance's takeover of Warner Brothers Discovery, the Writers Guild has filed its own lawsuit to stop the merger. Read more.

Broadway Cleaners Win: In an update to a story we’ve reported on previously, Broadway cleaners (photo below) have reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League, a week after hosting a rally and strike vote. Read more.

Seattle Times Files ULP Against Workers: Last month, the union newsroom workers at the Seattle Times filed a ULP with the NLRB citing months of negotiations with the newspaper and still no wage proposal. Now the newspaper has filed a ULP against its own workers. Read more.

CBS Production Assistants File To Unionize: Production assistants on CBS’ upcoming Silicon Valley legal drama have filed for a union election in an attempt to join Production Assistants United. Read more.

Brooklyn Bowl Stagehands Join IATSE: The newly formed bargaining unit covers 24 production workers at the popular Brooklyn venue. Read more.

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK

The Motown Diva pumps up the crowd at the AFT Convention this week in Washington DC. CLICK HERE TO WATCH.
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org

PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK

ABOVE: As unionised Microsoft workers rally against Bethesda layoffs, Fallout 4's been filled with protest signs and OneBGS logoed vault suits by modders; Image credit: Elianora / Bethesda

BELOW: BC Nurses' picket outside of Nanaimo General Hospital on Monday July 13, 2026. (CityNews Image)

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

Want picket signs like this one sent to your inbox every week? Sign up for our free newsletter!

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: Union Maid -- Anne Feeney
From LHF’s playlist of Labor songs for picket lines, rallies and union activities.

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

LABOR CARTOON OF THE WEEK

This cartoon is provided by our friends at Funny Times, America's Funniest Newspaper. Sign up for their free cartoon-of-the-week newsletter here.

Want Labor cartoons like this one sent to your inbox every week? Sign up for our free newsletter!

LABOR LANDMARK OF THE WEEK
The Imperial Food Products Fire Memorial: On September 3, 1991, an explosion and industrial fire in this chicken processing plant in Hamlet North Carolina killed 25 workers and injured 54 others. Despite three previous fires, the plant had never had a safety inspection in its 11 years of operation. Many of the dead and injured workers were trapped behind locked doors, including a fire exit. The fire raised awareness of industrial safety and, for a time in the 1990s, was a catalyst for efforts to organize Southern workers.


Details on the LHF Labor Landmarks Map.

Forward the LHF newsletter to friends, family, colleagues and help us reach our goal of 10,000 readers! 👉 Subscribe free

Red Jerseys in Detroit (Encore)

On this week’s Labor History Today: The FIFA World Cup is once again captivating fans around the globe as the 2026 tournament heads into the semifinal round. While soccer is often viewed as a relatively recent arrival in the United States, the game actually has deep roots here, thanks to immigrant workers from Britain and Europe who brought football to mining towns, factories, and mill communities in the late nineteenth century. This week's Labor History Today – originally released during the 2022 World Cup -- explores the long—and often overlooked—history of soccer as a workers' game.

From 1927 to 1935, the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) established the Labor Sport Union, a coalition of worker athletic clubs, primarily located in the urban Northeast and Midwest. Gabe Logan recounts the history of the Workers’ Soccer Association and explains an overlooked aspect of U.S. soccer that intersected political ideology, labor, and athletics.

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

1944: Two ammunition ships explode at Port Chicago, Calif., killing 322, including 202 African-Americans assigned by the Navy to handle explosives. It was the worst home-front disaster of World War II.


1974: The strike of 400 mostly Asian women workers at Imperial Typewriters in Leicester is called to an end.

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

LAST WEEK'S QUIZ: Sidney Hillman died on July 10, 1946 at age 59. He led the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and was a close advisor to Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

RECENT NEWSLETTERS
Live from the 2026 Great Labor Arts Exchange Concert! (7/10)
Labor Songs for Picket Lines, Rallies and Union Activities (6/26)

What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (7/3)
Building Power Through Culture (6/19)
LIVE from GLAE ‘26! (6/13)