Labor Arts News & Updates

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

FRI-SAT-SUN: Workers Unite Film Festival (Virtual)

SAT: The Power of Working Women: 50 Years of Labor, Art, and Organizing (DC)

SAT: West Allis Workers vs. Corporate Power (WI)

SAT: A Jazzy Celebration of Women's History Month (DC)

Ongoing Events

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW


The Singing TradesWoman

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: High tower crane operator and singer/songwriter Sammy Cossairt talks with poet and master electrician Susan Eisenberg about life in the trades and her new song “TradesWoman”; a Labor Landmarks visit to Seattle’s historic Labor Temple with Conor Casey; plus stories of women-led struggles—from the 1929 Elizabethton Rayon Strike to Michigan’s “Big Annie” Clements.

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS


Staff at ProPublica Authorize Strike: Members of the ProPublica Guild have overwhelmingly authorized a strike in order to secure a first contract. Read more.
Mystic Seaport Museum Workers Unionize: Staff at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut went public last week with their effort to form a union with AFSCME Council 4. Read more.

ABC switches to BBC as staff walk off the job: More than 2,000 Australian Broadcast Corporation staff around Australia walked off the job for a 24-hour strike, forcing ABC services across TV, radio and digital to use the BBC World Service. Read more.

United Videogame Workers Launch Organizing Campaigns at GDC: One year after video game workers announced the formation of their direct-join, industry-wide union at the 2025 Game Developer Conference (GDC), United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 members launched several worker-organizing campaigns across the industry. Read more.

Videogame Workers' Union One Of "Most Innovative Companies of 2026"? The Communications Workers Of America’s United Videogame Workers expressed surprise Thursday at appearing on Fast Company’s annual “Most Innovative Companies of 2026" gaming list since, in their words, “we're not a company.” Read more.

Newsroom AI Dubbed “Absolute sh*t”: “Incredibly dumb.” “Honestly insane.” “Absolute sh*t.” That’s just some of the overwhelmingly negative feedback found in a Reddit thread discussing an entirely AI-generated story in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Read more.

Newly-Found Film Captures ‘26 UK General Strike: A newly discovered documentary film provides an extraordinary first-hand account of the General Strike of 1926. And it shows how close many of the strikers thought it brought them to a revolution. Read more.

What We’re Reading: Tourists See a Luxury Hotel. We See Labor History and a City That Protects Workers.

LABOR LANDMARK OF THE WEEK: United Mine Workers Local 6855 Union Hall

The former union hall in Nauvoo, Alabama memorializes miners killed in labor conflict—including violence during the 1920 Alabama Coal Strike—alongside tributes to members lost in mining accidents and military service.

Details on the LHF Labor Landmarks Map.

LABOR VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Remembering Triangle

“On the 115th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, America’s unions mourn the 146 lives lost on that tragic day, many of whom were immigrant women. More than a century later, the labor movement is continuing the fight to protect all workers’ safety on the job.” AFL-CIO
Got labor video? email us at info@laborheritage.org

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PICKET SIGN OF THE WEEK
Strike sign spotted on the BMDA UAW Local 3999 picket line at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine 💯🎯@uaw
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org

LABOR SONG Of The Week: Triangle Fire (A Music Video) - To Commemorate the Tragic Fire in 1911

By Joe DeFilippo and the R.J. Phillips Band.

In 1911, a fire in the upper floors of a 10 story garment factory in New York led to the death of 146 people. Owners of the business had chained or locked most of the exits as a way to prevent theft. When the fire started, it spread rapidly through the the piles of fabric. The workers rushed to get out, but the one fire escape could not handle the weight. Because of this tragedy, law were passed to try to prevent these kinds of working conditions. Thousands of people attended their memorial. This song commemorates the workers.

Women Who Led the Fight

This week on Labor History Today, we explore moments when workers didn’t just demand change—they forced it, from Detroit, 1937 when sit-down strikers face a violent police raid, to Seattle, 1919, where Conor Casey takes us inside the Labor Temple, on LHF’s Labor Landmarks Map, and New York City, 1970, as postal workers launch an illegal strike that spreads nationwide. Plus, from America’s Workforce, historian Jesse Wilkerson takes us to the 1929 Elizabethton Rayon Strike and in Michigan, from Madison Labor Radio, we hear the story of “Big Annie” Clements, who led copper miners in 1913, and in Labor History in Two we learn about labor journalist and organizer Alice Henry. 

“Son of a Jockey” Explores Work, Family and Fate

Andrew Plattner's "Son of a Jockey, a Journal" is the latest offering from Blue Cubicle Press in their "Overtime" series (hour #73). Plattner's story is a son's narrative about his father's life as a jockey and how many of the father's choices across his lifetime defined the lives of the son and others. This is a poignant portrait and shows how occupation affects the lives of families. Plattner's prose is tight and compelling. You will find yourself cheering on the longshot in the West Virginia Derby, Hilarious Jet, with the son's jockey father in the saddle. You can order "Son of a Jockey, a Journal" and check out all of Blue Cubicle Press's publications on their website.
John Beck, Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives

LABOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Mary Harris "Mother Jones"
“I will tell the truth wherever I please.”

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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
1904: Mother Jones ordered to leave Colorado after state authorities accuse her of “stirring up” striking coal miners

1912: IWW Launches strike on Canadian Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific Lines

2002: U.S. Supreme Court rules undocumented workers don’t have the same rights as Americans when they are wrongly fired

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on March 20, 1991 that employers could not exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage a fetus.

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Women of Labor: Songs, Art & History (3/13)

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Solidarity Rising: Strikes, Murals, and World Heritage (2/27)

Songs of Revolution and Protest (2/20)