1976, 51min
Sitdowns, scabs, goon squads, unemployment, hunger marches, red baiting and finally the energetic birth of the CIO: the 1930s were a landmark period for the American labor movement. UNION MAIDS is the story of three women who lived that history and make it come alive today. It was the first film of its kind–an oral history, using a wealth of footage from the National Archives to chronicle the fight to form industrial unions as seen through the eyes of rank and file women. The film was widely distributed in 16mm, including theatrical dates in about 20 cities.
2015, 1hr 30min
With the tremendous success of his book, A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn radically changed the way Americans see themselves. His friend Noam Chomsky says that Zinn litteraly transformed a generation’s conscience. Zinn talks about those who have no voice in the official History : Slaves, Indians, deserters, textile workers, union men.
Between 1900 and 1920, more than 14 million immigrants arrived in the United States. They came fleeing poverty or war, racism or religious persecution. They dreamed of a promised land, of wealth, or simply of a better life. The New World opened its arms wide to the poor and huddled masses of the Old : its unwanted, its fugitives, and even a few utopians…
After all, the rapidly expanding industries of the time required cheap labor, and immigrant workers - men, women and children - were easy to exploit. But the same period also saw the birth of organized labor, with its strikes and conflicts, and the appearance of great figures like Emma Goldman, Mother Jones, Eugene Debs and the Wobblies.
2018, 1hr 13min
This award-winning documentary exposes child labor and trafficking within the supply chains of the world’s biggest corporations, which produce some of our most loved items.
Filmed across six countries, the documentary offers a harrowing account of children as young as five years old making the products we buy and consume every day. Chilling undercover footage shows children being sold like animals to the highest bidder and others being abused by this pervasive slave labor.
INVISIBLE HANDS digs deep into a modern slavery system quietly supported by some of the world’s largest companies, demanding to know why top stakeholders continue to engage in this unlawful and deadly practice.
2019, 59min
WAGING CHANGE shines a light on an American struggle hidden in plain sight: the women-led movement to end the federal tipped minimum wage for restaurant workers, with a special section on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of people serving food in U.S. restaurants are paid a federal sub-minimum wage of only $2.13 an hour and are forced to depend on tips to feed themselves and their families. Women, who hold two-thirds of all tip-based jobs, are especially affected. Their reliance on tips leads to pervasive gender discrimination, sexual assault, and sexual harassment at the hands of customers, coworkers, and bosses – and leaves them with very little ability to speak up. In addition, sub-minimum wages are also paid to workers with disabilities, incarcerated workers, and teen workers in most states. WAGING CHANGE weaves together the stories of workers struggling to make ends meet with the efforts of Saru Jayaraman and others of One Fair Wage, who faces off against the powerful National Restaurant Association lobby and fights for one fair wage. Featuring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others who have mobilized support for the movement, WAGING CHANGE reveals the important role consumers have to play in ending this two-tiered wage system which has already been abolished in seven states.