2012 Labor Books Catalog Now Available
The just-released 2012 edition of the UCS Labor Books Catalog provides a well-stocked toolbox of books, pamphlets and more, offering scores of classic and new titles on topics ranging from negotiating and grievance handling to organizing, health and safety, labor law and labor history. It includes many worker-friendly fiction and young adult and children’s books as well.
New titles for 2012 include the brand-new Steward’s Pocket Reference & Diary (“The union steward’s best friend!”); Estelle Carol’s stunning “Unions Make a World of Difference” poster – suitable for prominent display in the workplace or union hall; a riveting new Joe Hill biography, “The Man Who Never Died;” Philip Dray’s “There is Power in a Union;” a new Effective Grievance Resolution DVD from Wayne State University; new editions of several classic labor activists’ tools; and more.
Copies of the catalog are available free from UCS at 800-321-2545; by e-mail at ucsbooks@unionist.com and online web at www.unionist.com. Or send your request to UCS Books, 165 Conduit St., Annapolis MD 21401. Books also can be purchased directly from the website.
World Premiere of New Mother Jones Play Opens Oct. 12
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The Theater of the First Amendment will present the world premiere of “Can’t Scare Me: The Story of Mother Jones at Washington, D.C.’s Atlas Performing Arts Center beginning with preview performances Oct. 12 and 13 and running through Oct. 30.
OBIE Award-winner Kaiulani Lee portrays Mother Jones in a riveting solo performance about the early days of the American Labor Movement. Mother Jones was called “the most dangerous woman in America,” and “educated, agitated, and organized” on behalf of child laborers, coal miners, steel workers, and all working people.
Through an artful blend of history, biography, and a liberal dose of Mother Jones’s famous wit, “Can’t Scare Me” brings out some urgent issues of yesterday and today in a riveting, passionate, and fiery solo performance.
The Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) and the Labor Heritage Foundation (LHF) are co-sponsoring a special matinee on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for the matinee but because there is a union discount the fee will be $20.
Maine Labor Mural Gets Rebirth at Maryland Arts Center
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While Maine Gov. Paul LePage continues to hold hostage a mural depicting the state’s labor history that he ordered removed from state property in March, the Maine AFL-CIO and artist Judy Taylor arranged for a reproduction of the mural to be displayed at Rockville, Md.’s nonprofit arts center, VisArts.
As part of the center’s “Celebrate Labor: Where Art Meets Politics” display that runs through Sept. 20, the 11-panel mural depicts the state’s labor history, including a 1986 paper mill strike, “Rosie the Riveter” at the Bath Iron Works and the enactment of child labor laws.
LePage, who supports “right to work” for less laws and pushed to weaken child labor laws, claimed the mural was akin to North Korean propaganda. But Mount Holyoke College President Lynn Pasquerella put LePage’s actions into proper perspective when she said they conjure “thoughts of rewriting history prevalent in totalitarian regimes.”
Taylor will speak at the VisArts gallery on Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. A panel discussion featuring professors, artists and other figures is scheduled for Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. For more information, click here.
Reuther Brothers Film Gets World Premiere at Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival
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We’re looking forward to the release later this year of the documentary “Brothers On The Line,” which chronicles the lives of UAW leader Walter Reuther and his brothers, Roy and Victor—from the Great Depression to the Great Society.
But this month, activist moviemaker Michael Moore will give audiences at his annual Traverse City Film Festival (July 26-31) a sneak preview when the film’s writer, producer and director, Sasha Reuther, screens his work in progress. Sasha is Victor Reuther’s grandson.
Reuther says he sent a rough cut of the film to Moore who then invited him to screen it at the festival where Moore will be paying special tribute to unions.
“Brothers On the Line” follows the Reuthers from the 1930’s bloody battles with auto company thugs, sit-down strikes to the establishment of the UAW as one of the most influential unions and through their fight for equality and civil rights. According to the film’s website:
Maine Republican Governor Erasing History of Working People
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Once again, Republicans are trying to erase the history of America’s working people. In Maine, Republican Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depciting the state’s labor history from the Department of Labor. The 11-panel piece in part depicts a 1986 paper mill strike and “Rosie the Riveter” at Bath Iron Works. Judy Taylor, an artist based on Mount Desert, won a 2007 competition to create the mural to depict the “History of Labor in the State of Maine.”
Further, the names of conference rooms are being changed to make them more “business friendly.” One is called the “Perkins Room,” for Frances Perkins, the first female Secretary of Labor and promoter of New Deal policies that improved workers’ rights on the job. Perkins championed labor reforms after the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire that resulted in the deaths of 146 garment workers in New York City. This Friday is the 100th anniversary of that tragedy.
In a March 22 e-mail to staff, Maine’s acting commissioner of Labor Laura Boyett wrote:
We have received feedback that the administration building is not perceived as equally receptive to both businesses and workers – primarily because of the nature of the mural in the lobby and the names of our conference rooms.
Labor History Made Easy Thanks to Pennsylvania AFL-CIO
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In less than two minutes, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has provided a wonderfully entertaining history of the union movement in a fun and easy to understand animated video. It’s something for adults and kids.
Hats off to state federation President Rick Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder and the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Communications Team of Jim Deegan and Karen Gownley for the clever and informative production.
Take a look and share it with your friends and colleagues.
Labor Book Catalog Offers One-Stop Shopping
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Sometimes it is awful darn hard to find union- and labor-orientated books, whether you’re looking for how to help in the workplace, labor history or even worker-themed fiction. But a free, new 56-page catalog from Union Communication Services (UCS) puts hundreds of titles on dozens of subjects at your fingertips.
The 2010 edition of the UCS Labor Books Catalog includes scores of classic and new titles on topics ranging from negotiating and grievance handling to organizing, health and safety, labor law and labor history. It includes many worker-friendly fiction and young adult and children’s books as well.
New titles for 2010 include two UCS exclusives, Union Strategies for Hard Times: Helping Your Members and Building Your Union in the Great Recession and Contract Costing for Union Negotiators, which comes with a CD containing template spreadsheets. Other new books include biographies of Eugene V. Debs and Woody Guthrie, some great new children’s titles and a lot more.
The catalog, now in its 12th year, is produced by the same labor publisher that offers the Steward Update newsletter and widely used guidebooks for union stewards and members. The catalog includes titles from UCS and some 30 other publishers, including the AFL-CIO National Labor College (NLC) and other major labor education centers.
Unique Philadelphia Monument Honors Workers
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A new monument, the Labor Monument: Philadelphia’s Tribute to the American Worker, was unveiled in a ceremony earlier this month at the city’s Elmwood Park. Created by artist John Kindness, the monument—seven table-top sized “work buttons” (see photo)—memorialize the contributions of labor nationwide and Philadelphia’s working-class history.
The Fairmont Park Art Association, which commissioned the work, said Kindness, son of a shipyard worker,
searched for a symbol that could represent laborers from all industries and discovered old metal work buttons. Regardless of trade or skill, early generations of laborers often wore the same denim uniforms; hence the term “blue-collar worker.” These uniforms were fastened with metal buttons, that bore a variety of slogans and symbols.
Mother Jones Takes to the Stage
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“Eighty years after her death, Mother Jones’ howl for safe mines and responsible corporations still echoes,” writes LA Weekly’s Amy Nicholson in a review of the play, “The Most Dangerous Woman in America: Machine Guns, Coal Dust, Mother Jones and the Making of the American Dream.”
Written by David Christie and performed by Actors’ Equity (AEA) member Therese Diekhans, the one-woman drama won the Best Solo Show award at the Hollywood Fringe festival in June.
It’s now set for two more performances in Everett, Wash., (just a 26-mile shot from Seattle, straight up I-5) next weekend, Sept. 11 and 12. The performances are half-price for union members and free for union members on strike (location info here).
Writing in the LA Theater Review, Kat Primeau says Diekhans’ charming, studied performance:
playfully brings to life 15 characters, from children mill workers to John D. Rockefeller, as the audience learns the true cost of Big Business cost-cutting in early 20th century mining towns. Mother Jones’ rallying speeches on apathy and revolution are particularly poignant amidst contemporary woes.
Visit Diekhans’ website here.
Oklahoma Laborfest Conquers All
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Stuart Elliott from the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation of Central Kansas reports on the Oklahoma Laborfest, Aug. 26-28 in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City rocked for three days with the sounds of a celebration of working people. The big show: the premiere of “Oklahoma Speaks,” a performance that brought the state’s dramatic labor history to life.
The production spotlighted the tremendous impact of the union movement in Oklahoma. The state’s motto is ‘Labor Omnia Vincitÿ”—“Labor Conquers All”—a phrase commonly used by former AFL President Samuel Gompers. Union members, in alliance with tenant farmers, won majority support for 24 demands at the state’s constitutional convention in 1906. Oklahoma’s legislature eventually passed laws prohibiting child labor and mandating compulsory school attendance, established state mining and factory inspectors, regulated the use of strike breakers during labor disputes and outlawed the blacklisting of union sympathizers by employers.
The dramatic readings in “Oklahoma Speaks” were matched by musical selections and featured the voices of both leaders and everyday people who lived through powerful historic changes.
