Appendix C Homework Library 1989 Summary Documentary The Plight Migrant

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Appendix C

Labor Media Guide

Labor relations is a field that is rich with a number of movies and documentaries that can

“bring to life” the human element and circumstances of American labor history.

Therefore we recommend that a course in labor relations and collective bargaining be

enhanced by the use of media, either in the classroom or outside. The following media are

available on DVD and are available through amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com as well

as other media sources and thus can be easily used in most classrooms or downloaded

and viewed directly on a computer.

1. Norma Rae. ( 20th Century Fox Films, 1979, 118 minutes)

1. Summary: The popular Hollywood movie stars Sally Field a in the Academy Award

winning title role, is considered by some to be the classic American labor movie. The film is

based on the true story of events experienced by a union organizer in a J. P. Stevens & Co.

textile mill in South Carolina – at that time the largest employer in the state. By experiencing

Suggested Scenes: 2,3,5,6,10,12-16,21-23,25,26 (classic scene on table), 27, 30

Labor Issues: Why workers unionize, organizing campaign, certification election, unfair

labor practices.

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 1 Introduction to Labor Relations; Chapter 2 Private Sector

Discussion Questions: 1. What Workplace Issues Caused Norma Rae to join the labor

organizer? 2. What role did Ruben (labor organizer) play in the campaign? 3. Why was the

letter concerning black & white workers critical to the union?

2. American Dream. (Miramax Films, 1990, ISBN 0 – 7888 – 5043 – 1).

Summary: Academy Award winner for Best Documentary. If students only see one labor film

– this is the one! This landmark film is unique among the best labor films because it contains

all footage of a historical, economic strike by members of United Food and Commercial

Workers Union, Local P-9 at the Austin, Minnesota Hormel plant in 1986. After management

reduces hourly wages from 1069 to $8.25 local union leaders propose the first economic strike

Suggested Scenes: 1-4, 10-15

Labor Issues: strikes; wage concessions; local – international union relationship, replacement

workers; corporate campaign; picketing

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 1 Introduction to Labor Relations; Chapter 2 Private Sector

Labor Relations: History & Law; Chapter 6 Negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement

Discussion Questions: 1. Why did the local union leadership believe a strike was necessary?

2. What were the key factors that enabled Hormel to withstand the strike and resume

operations? 3. Why did the international union not support the local strike? 4. If you were a

3. The “Wooblies” ( 1979, ISBN 0-7670-8966-9, 90 minutes )

Summary: An outstanding docudrama on the class struggle during the turn of the century

(1900) of the International Workers of the World (IWW) – The “Wooblies”and big business.

The film includes interviews with aged IWW members who were present at early events

including the 1912 Lawrence, MA strike, 1913 Patterson, NJ strike and 1916 Everett, WA free

speech fight. It also shows numerous newspaper articles about the events as well as black &

white film footage of the times. The basic theme is the struggle between big business and the

working class. Students find the first hand accounts from elderly members of the union

especially interesting.

Suggested Scenes: 1, 2, 4-7, 10-11

Labor Issues: The class struggle between workers and big business during the early 1900s.

Strikes, free speech, immigrant workers

Discussion Questions: 1. What changes in American industry caused the issues of the workers

of the early 1900s? 2. By what methods did they express their concerns? 3. How did the

owners respond to workers concerns? 4. What issues did the workers in the Massachusetts

textile mills, and Washington loggers and dock workers have in common?

4. Harlan County U.S.A. ( 1977, 103 minutes)

Summary: One of the most popular films about labor history, this Academy Award – winning

documentary shows the struggles and violence between coal miners and the Eastover mining

company, a division of Duke Power Company in the 1970s. The realistic nature of the

documentary makes the film an excellent choice for the classroom or assigned outside viewing.

The film catalogs the strike by United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) against the

Brookside Mine which evolves into the hiring of scabs, court ordered injunctions, police

intervention, picket lines and violence. At one point wives of the miners decide to join the acts,

which adds an interesting dynamic to the struggle.

Suggested Scenes: 1-4, 6-9, 13-15, 17-19, 21-25

Labor Issues: Organizing campaign, picketing, contract ratification, scabs, economic strike,

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 2. Private Sector Labor Relations; Chapter 4 Establishing a

Bargaining Unit; Chapter 6 Negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement

5. The Molly Maguires (1970, 123 minutes)

Summary: This Hollywood first run movie stars Sean Connery and Richard Harris in a

reenactment of the mine bombing by the Molly Maguires in 1877. The plot of the movie

includes Richard Harris hired as a spy by the owners to infiltrate the Molly Maguires group to

identify them for the owners. Scenes of the workers in the mines are realistic and portray the

unsafe and hard working conditions of the day. The mine workers are constantly watched by

armed guards who utilize violence on occasion. Today the Molly Maguires are U.S. labor

Suggested Scenes: All

Labor Issues: Mine worker revolt against oppressive conditions. Labor & management

violence.

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 1 Introduction to Labor Relations; 2. Private Sector Labor

Relations: History and Law; Chapter 4 Establishing a Bargaining Unit and the Organizing

Campaign

6. The Golden Cage: A Story of California’s Farmworkers

(Filmmakers Library, 1989)

Summary: A documentary of the plight of migrant farm workers in California. Excellent

historical footage of the California farm workers living conditions, and their fights with the

owners of the agricultural companies. Includes the history of the United Farm Workers Union

and its fight to negotiate contracts with the owners despite the lack of federal laws providing.

The film is a moving, documentary film with historical footage, interviews and newspaper

clippings. The role of Cesar Chavez in organizing the union is presented.

Suggested Scenes: All

Labor Issues: picketing, boycott, Cesar Chavez & United Farm Workers Union

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 1 Introduction to Labor Relations; Chapter 10 Unfair Labor

Practices and Contract Enforcement

7. Jimmy Hoffa ( A & E Television biography, 2000)

Summary: An A & E made for television biography provides a balanced look at the life of

Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa. Actual footage from the moving U.S. Senate

hearings involving Sen. John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy as well as their dislike for

Suggested Scenes: 1-5, first minute of 6

Labor Issues: organizing a union, Teamsters union

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 2. Private Sector Labor Relations: History and Law; Chapter 4

Establishing a Bargaining Unit and the Organizing Campaign

8. Harry Bridges – A Man and His Union ((MW Productions, 1992,

Title ID: 0236211; 1 hour)

Summary: A biography of the charismatic, liberal labor leader who headed the powerful

International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union from the 1930s – 1970s. Bridges was a

lightening rod for both pro and anti labor movement activists. Prosecuted by under three U.S.

presidents, Bridges was convicted by a federal jury for lying about his Communist Party

membership – but the conviction was later overturned.

Suggested Scenes: 1-5, 9-12

Labor Issues: union hiring hall, injunction, technology, racial discrimination

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 2 Private Sector Labor Relations: History and Law, Chapter 6

Negotiating a CBA, Chapter 10 Unfair Labor Practices and Contract Enforcement;

Discussion Questions: 1. What incident caused the citizens of San Francisco to support the

longshoremen strike of 1934? 2. What was the “revolutionary” issue the longshoremen gained

9. Coalmining Women (www.APPALSHOP.org, 1982, 2007 40

minutes)

Summary: Excellent docudrama about women coalminers who worked in a male –dominated

industry and the problems they endured. Interviews with the women both at home and in the

mines provide a moving insight into their unique roles, and general insights into the coal

mining industry.

Suggested Scenes: all

Labor Issues: John L. Lewis, discrimination, working conditions

10. On the Waterfront ( Columbia Pictures, 1954, ISBN 0-7678–

0427-9, 108 minutes)

Summary: Winner of 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor (Marlon

Brando) this Hollywood classic provides insights into the gang – ridden waterfront of the

1950s. the powerful cast also includes Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, and Rod

Steiger. Brando as Terry Malloy unknowingly sets up a neighborhood friend for murder

because he had been talking with the Crime Commission. The film is based on the novel Crime

on the Waterfront by Malcom Johnson and details shady and violent activities of East coast

longshoremen, the International Longshoreman’s association, and organized crime. In one

scene Brando delivers the powerful lines; “I could’ve been a contender. I could have been

somebody. “ became one of the classics of Hollywood films.

Suggested Scenes: 1-7, 14-19, 20 (famous “I coulda been a contender” line), 24, 26-28

Labor Issues: labor unions & organized crime, union hiring hall, featherbedding

11. Newsies ( Walt Disney Production, 1992, 125 minutes)

Summary: A Walt Disney movie which has developed cult status among younger students due

to the star actors (Luke Edwards, Bill Pullman, Ann-Margaret, Robert Duvall) and popular

songs. The plot of the movie is typical Hollywood – poor newsboys in New York must

unionize to fight newspaper owners William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. The 3,000

Suggested Scenes: all

Labor Issues: why workers organize a union, working conditions, union organizing, strikes

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 1 Introduction to Labor Relations; Chapter 2. Private Sector

Labor Relations: History and Law; Chapter 4 Establishing a Bargaining Unit and the

Organizing Campaign; Chapter 6 Negotiating a collective Bargaining Agreement

Discussion Questions; 1. What caused the newsboys to rebel & organize? 2. How were the

newsboys able to successfully win the dispute? 3. Why did Governor Teddy Roosevelt

intervene to help the newsboys?

12. Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story ( HBO Home Video,

1999, 111 minutes) Rated: R

Summary: The riveting story of one of the most important labor leaders of the 1980s. The film

stars Brian Dennehy as Jackie Presser, the Teamster leader who started from humble

Suggested Scenes:1, 4-7, 9-11 (WARNING: movie contains violence, rough language, brief

nudity, sexual situations some may find offensive)

Labor Issues: labor unions, organized crime, International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Suggested Chapter: Chapter 2 Private Sector Labor Relations: History and Law, Chapter 6

Negotiating a CBA, Chapter 10 Unfair Labor Practices and Contract Enforcement;

Discussion Questions; 1. How did Jackie’s father Bill Presser, help Jackie rise to power?

2. Why did Jackie Presser agree to work with the FBI? Why did the FBI want to work with

Jackie? 3. Why did Jackie decide to go public with the history of the Teamsters and the mob?