Labor Arts News & Updates

LHF website

Calendar

LHF Shop

BREAKING NEWS: Whose Kennedy Center? Not Trump's!

Join Hands Off the Arts and others tomorrow to tell Trump to get his hands--and his name--off the Kennedy Center,” reports former Working America director Karen Nussbaum. “Tell your friends and get the word out to the many fabulous DC area organizations fighting against autocracy.”

Saturday  10 am - 12 pm, Kennedy Center, 2700 F St NW

Sign up here and find out about future actions.

Editor’s Note: Thank You, Hetty

After years of dedicated service to the Labor Heritage Foundation and the labor movement, we’re celebrating Hetty Scofield’s retirement at the end of this year and honoring the remarkable path she’s traveled.

As Outreach Coordinator at LHF, Hetty helped connect our work in labor arts, history, and culture to union members, retirees, and community partners across the country. She brought deep experience, warmth, and a clear understanding of why culture matters to organizing—because she’s lived that work herself. 

Before joining LHF, Hetty served as a staff representative with the Communications Workers of America, and she continues to be a tireless advocate for working people as president of CWA’s Retired Members Council, District 4, and as president of ROSA Retired Officers and Staff (CWA). Hetty remains firmly rooted in the labor movement, even as she steps back from her day-to-day role with Labor Heritage. "We are deeply grateful for her leadership, her care for people, and her belief in the power of solidarity across generations," adds former LHF ED Elise Bryant. 

Please join us in thanking Hetty for her years of service and wishing her all the best in this next chapter.

-       Chris

WEEKEND LABOR ARTS CALENDAR

ONGOING:

The Hidden Shift (PA); Click here for more information.

Baristas vs. Billionaires (Film); Click here to find showtimes and locations.

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

THIS WEEK'S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR RADIO SHOW

Today on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: The SF Mime Troupe's 'A Red Carol' turns Dickens' classic into a call for collective action. Listen here 👉

LABOR ARTS NEWS BRIEFS


Adler Planetarium Staff Vote to Join AFSCME

Workers at the Adler Planetarium voted on Dec. 11 to join AFSCME Council 31, marking the latest victory for cultural workers in Chicago fighting for a fair voice on the job. “Throughout Chicago's cultural sector, a movement has been building for the last five years,” said AFSCME Council 31. Read more.
Quake and Doom Video Game Developers Join CWA

Video game workers at the company behind the popular franchises Quake and Doom voted to join CWA last week. The 165 workers at Microsoft subsidiary id Software will be members of CWA Local 6215 in Richardson, Texas. Read more.

Theorist Media Workers Announce Joint Organizing Campaign

The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG)—Local 700 of the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)—and Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are teaming up to support Theorist Media workers secure fair representation and a powerful union contract. Read more.

Front of House Workers Casa Bonita Unionize

The vote by workers at the iconic Denver entertainment venue to join IATSE Local 7 earlier this week “marks another milestone in the growing movement of union organizing at Casa Bonita, following earlier victories by arcade staff and performers who joined IATSE and Actors’ Equity,” IATSE reported.

reports by the AFL-CIO Daily Brief, CWA newsletter and IATSE Facebook page. 

Time Is Running Out to Make a 2025 Tax-Deductible Gift — and It Still Doubles!

There’s still time to make a tax-deductible 2025 contribution to the Labor Heritage Foundation—and help us close the final $3,600 needed to unlock a full $10,000 match. Every gift is still being doubled, so your support goes twice as far for labor arts, culture, and education.

As the year comes to a close, this is your chance to make a meaningful, last-minute gift that counts for 2025 and helps push us over the finish line.

CLICK HERE to contribute.

Thank you!

Facebook  Twitter

WHAT WE’RE READING

Art Is A Commons: A conversation with aja monet on organizing from a place of love, the legacy of the Maroons and the urgency of art in these times. In These Times; Read more. photo by Daniel N. Johnson.

Yiddish Actors Give a Whole New Meaning to the Phrase, “Staging a Strike”: One of the earliest foundations of the progressive theatre movement in America was contributed by the Yiddish Theatre, 1887–1913, in the formation of the Hebrew Actors’ Union with its strong ties to socialist trade unionism in Europe. LAWCHA’s LaborOnline; Read more.

If you SEE something, SHARE something! 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
Got picket sign? email us at info@laborheritage.org

LABOR VIDEOS OTW: The Grinch is Back! (above) Santa puts Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol on the Naughty List. 4,500 Starbucks workers are STILL out on - and STILL calling on allies to stop buying Starbucks. That includes Starbucks gift cards! No Contract, No Coffee means NO Starbucks gift cards. Please shop local instead!

Below: Mr. President (Have Pity On The Working Man) - Randy Newman

LABOR SONG OF THE WEEK: Little Flame

Brand-new from 2025 GLAE star Carsie Blanton; just the inspiration we need for the New Year ahead!

LABOR ART OF THE WEEK: Devilishly Greedy Starbucks CEO

The backdrop for the stage at Starbucks Workers United’s strike rally Thursday at the company’s headquarters in Seattle was designed by USA Scenic designer Pete Rush and built by PNW Scenic, a Seattle company owned by IATSE Local 15 members Ben and Jessica Radin. Photo by Dan Schuy. Collage by Harold Phillips.

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

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

1907

An explosion at Pennsylvania’s Darr Mine killed 239 miners, making December 1907 the deadliest month in U.S. coal mining history.

1983

A 47-day Greyhound strike ended with deep concessions, after ATU striker Ray Phillips was killed on a picket line by a scab trainee.

1984

A fire at Utah’s Wilberg Mine killed 27 workers; inspectors later cited dozens of safety violations despite recently deeming the mine safe.

This week on the Labor History Today podcast: an excerpt from Labor Jawn with historian Francis Ryan on Philadelphia’s labor legacy—and why it’s often erased. Plus, on Labor History in 2:00, the birth of Ella Baker in 1903.

In 1899, AFL delegates backed a constitutional amendment for which reform?

LAST WEEK’S QUIZ: Samuel Gompers, president and founder of the American Federation of Labor, died in San Antonio, Texas on December 13, 1924. Gompers had been attending a meeting of the Pan-American Federation of Labor in Mexico City, but wanted to die on American soil. He’s buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, a few yards away from robber baron Andrew Carnegie.

SUPPORT LABOR ARTS!

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!).

Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. 

RECENT NEWSLETTERS

Hollywood Labor Comes Out Swinging Against WB-Netflix Deal (12/12)

Denver’s Labor Story Comes Alive, Step by Step (11/28)

When the City Stopped: Stories from New York’s Essential Workers (11/20)

Art. Music. History. Solidarity. Let’s Keep It Growing. (11/14)

Strikes Across Time — Casa Bonita to the Washington Post to Ancient Rome (11/6)

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

X Share This Email
LinkedIn Share This Email