1. Triangle: Remembering the Fire
On March 25, 1911, a catastrophic fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City. Trapped inside the upper floors of a ten-story building, 146 workers - mostly young immigrant women and teenage girls - were burned alive or forced to jump to their deaths to escape an inferno that consumed the factory in just 18 minutes. It was the worst disaster at a workplace in New York State until 9/11. The tragedy changed the course of history, paving the way for government to represent working people, not just business, for the first time, and helped an emerging American middle class to live the American Dream.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
2. Aan ons den arbeid
Documentary that shows the changing attitude towards immigrant labor in The Netherlands. The documentary follows three immigrants that arrived in Holland 30 years ago to work in a bakery.
It has an average vote of 8.5 on TMDB.
3. Girls Taking Time Checks
Almost 200 women file by a device on the wall from which they take their time checks. A man runs half-way across the screen at the end of the film.
It has an average vote of 5.6 on TMDB.
4. Panorama of Machine Co. Aisle
A camera on an overhead crane travels down a large, long aisle where men are shown working on large machinery on either side. Carts carrying equipment are shown traveling on rails down the aisles. There are also men walking in the aisles. From Bitzer's Westinghouse Works series.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
5. Testing Large Turbines, Westinghouse Co. Works
On the left of the screen, a small group of men lift the top off of what appears to be a turbine with a crane and continue to check the machine, tightening various parts with wrenches. On the right side, a few men appear to be testing the workings of what may be a turbine.
It has an average vote of 3.8 on TMDB.
6. La historia es nuestra: Pascual, lucha obrera y cooperativismo (La historia es nuestra: Pascual, lucha obrera y cooperativismo)
History is Ours narrates the struggle of the workers of the Refrescos Pascual soft-drink company against its owner, Rafael Jiménez, the official trade unionism of the CTM and the labor authorities of the governments of José López Portillo and Miguel de la Madrid, between 1982 and 1985. It documents the workers' difficult struggle to take over the company, when justice, which had been elusive, finally proved them right, and opened the possibility that these brave, tenacious workers would become collective owners of the company. Today, these soft-drink fighters resist a system that hits Mexican companies in favor of the monopolistic transnationals. The film is an account of one of the most brilliant episodes of the contemporary Mexican labor movement, an example of unity and class consciousness, embodied by men and women who make their struggle a tribute to comrades Concepción Jacobo García and Alvaro Hernández García, tragically fallen at the beginning of this historic event.
7. La fabbrica sospesa (La fabbrica sospesa)
Blue-collar workers, executives, and other people at the Pirelli Bicocca plant talk about the upcoming shutdown of the factory. It's the end for a piece of history of Italian industry and also for a place of memory of workers' struggle: the movie documents the different reactions and scales of awareness determined by class belonging to the functions held in the factory by the interviewees.
8. Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory (La Sortie de l'Usine Lumière à Lyon)
Working men and women leave through the main gate of the Lumière factory in Lyon, France. Filmed on 22 March 1895, it is often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, although Louis Le Prince's 1888 Roundhay Garden Scene pre-dated it by seven years. Three separate versions of this film exist, which differ from one another in numerous ways. The first version features a carriage drawn by one horse, while in the second version the carriage is drawn by two horses, and there is no carriage at all in the third version. The clothing style is also different between the three versions, demonstrating the different seasons in which each was filmed. This film was made in the 35 mm format with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds, holding a total of 800 frames.
It has an average vote of 6.696 on TMDB.
9. Ciudad a la Espalda (Ciudad a la Espalda)
María and Isabel are two women in their fifties who, like many others, recycle in Quito, where there is no recycling system. María leads a collective fight for basic labor rights; while Isabel transmits her knowledge of environmental care while she raises her daughters.
10. Kinleith '80
Covers the 12-week-long strike at Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill, owned by New Zealand Forest Products in January 1980.
11. An Unsatisfying Metaphor
Documentary about the history of 20th century globalization through the lens of the World Trade Organization's changing art collection; from works of human subjects showcasing the potential of dignified labor, to their replacement with abstract maps and grids for the valorization of the modern trade system.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
12. The Empire of Shame (탐욕의 제국)
A documentary about the continuing case of Samsung semiconductor plant. The film is a story about nameless people wearing white coat, hat and mask worked in a clean room exposing eyes only.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
13. The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes Of The United Farm Workers Movement
The Delano Manongs tells the story of farm labor organizer Larry Itliong and a group of Filipino farm workers who instigated one of the American farm labor movement’s finest hours – The Delano Grape Strike of 1965 that brought about the creation of the United Farm Workers Union . While the movement is known for Cesar Chavez’s leadership and considered a Chicano movement, Filipinos played a pivotal role. Filipino labor organizer, Larry Itliong, a cigar-chomping union veteran, organized a group of 1500 Filipinos to strike against the grape growers of Delano, California, beginning a collaboration between Filipinos, Chicanos and other ethnic workers that would go on for years.
It has an average vote of 10 on TMDB.
14. Dias de Greve (Dias de Greve)
The struggle of a small group of blacksmiths trapped between keeping a long going strike with claims for better fees and the necessity of getting back to work when there's no money left for basic necessities.
15. In Syrien auf Montage (In Syrien auf Montage)
The film is a reportage showing the help of workers from the GDR in the industrial reconstruction of Syria. We witness the friendly relationship between workers from both countries, who are jointly involved in the construction of the cotton spinning mill in Homs. In impressive pictures the exoticism of the environment and the mentality of the Syrian hosts is shown. At the same time it becomes clear that the workers from the GDR become 'ambassadors of the GDR' through their collegial behaviour and good work.
16. The Devil’s Fire
THE DEVIL'S FIRE is an original documentary from WSKG Public Television and filmmaker Brian Frey. Utilizing never-before-seen photographs and investigative archival material, the film tells the story behind the Binghamton Clothing Company's charismatic owner, Reed B. Freeman, and the young immigrant workers trapped in the deadly blaze that hot Tuesday in July of 1913.
17. The Island of Shadows (그림자들의 섬)
The workers talk about the pleasure of starting work in a shipyard, the pride of making the vessel, and the recognition of workers and the high spirit of their novel struggle. There was solidarity everywhere, even in each other's mind. But there is no more energy in Hanjin Shipyard. The workers have been laid-off and the strike shows no sign of stopping. A 34 year-old worker committed suicide as well. It's the fourth who has become a martyr for the cause. Why have the laborers who worked at Hanjin shipyard separated like this? They are starting to ask themselves why they decided to hate each other.
18. Factory
A cinema verite study of the world of the blue-collar worker and the economic and psychological bind in which he is caught.
19. American Factory
In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.
It has an average vote of 7.175 on TMDB.
20. Conversations Between Shifts
A portrait of Chicagoland ICU nurse Jeanette Alvarez-Basem captured through the perspective of her son Ben Basem. Between her night shifts and Illinois Nurses Association union meetings, Jeanette navigates what it means to be a nurse and a human during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
