1. Fish or Cut Bait
In the 1970's, filmmakers Tom Burger, Bill McKiggan and Chuck Lapp began documenting the history and current struggles of inshore fishermen in Atlantic Canada to form a union. Until 1979 it was illegal for fishermen to form a union in Nova Scotia. The committed funding from the National Film Board was withdrawn for this film, however the filmmakers continued to edit the film by entering the NFB at night. The CBC refused to broadcast the film, but it was finally released in 1990 and broadcast nationally that year on Vision TV.
2. The Miners' Strike and Me
Documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the 1984 miners' strike, one of the bitterest industrial disputes in British history, with stories from both sides of the conflict.
3. The Flickering Flame
Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
4. Wildcat: The Struggle for Democracy in the New Zealand Timberworkers' Union
Delegates and workers discuss the issues that effect the Timberworkers’ Union, the reasons for the formation of the Combined Council of Timber Workers Delegates and their industrial action.
5. Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining
In 1981-2, the Kartemquin filmmakers returned to the Taylor Chain plant to show labor and management working together against the odds, trying to save the plant from becoming the latest victim of anti-union legislation and the globalization of cheap, exploitable labor. A sequel to Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local.
6. The Road Taken
This 1996 documentary takes a nostalgic ride through history to present the experiences of Black sleeping-car porters who worked on Canada's railways from the early 1900s through the 1960s. There was a strong sense of pride among these men and they were well-respected by their community. Yet, harsh working conditions prevented them from being promoted to other railway jobs until finally, in 1955, porter Lee Williams took his fight to the union.
7. For Twenty Cents A Day
A film documenting work shortages during the Depression of the 1930s and the attempts to deal with the unemployed, in particular young men. The film discusses the establishment of relief camps and projects, where men were paid twenty cents per day; the founding of organizations such as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation , Workers' Unity League, and Relief Camp Workers' Union; general unionization and protest of the unemployed, including the On To Ottawa Trek, Regina Riot, sit-in strike from May to June 1938 at the Vancouver Main Post Office, Vancouver Art Gallery and Hotel Georgia, and the resulting Bloody Sunday of June 19.
8. Feedback (Endurgjöf)
A documentary about teachers' strikes in Iceland in the latter half of the 20th century with a special focus on 1995.
9. Island Shunters
Short documentary on the shunters in the Darling Island, Sydney, Australia railyard. Filmed in 1977.
10. 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.
11. The Willmar 8
Risking jobs, friends, family and the opposition of church and community, eight unassuming women begin the longest bank strike in American history.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
12. Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story
Shattered Glass: A WNBPA Story dives deep into the lives beyond the court of the next generation of basketball luminaries, Jonquel Jones, Nneka Ogwumike, and Breanna Stewart, as well as WNBA legend, Sheryl Swoopes. From intense off-season routines to the intricacies of family dynamics to navigating the politics of women's sports, this documentary offers viewers a rare, all-encompassing look at the athletes as holistic individuals.
13. Cocalero (Cocalero)
A documentary centered on the union formed by Bolivian farmers in response to their government's effort eradicate coca crops, and the man who would come to represent them, Evo Morales.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
14. Harlan County U.S.A.
This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastovers refusal to sign a contract led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
15. Union
The Amazon Labor Union — a group of current and former Amazon workers in New York City’s Staten Island — takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.
16. Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra (Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra)
July, 1936. The terrible Spanish Civil War begins. When the streets are taken by the working class, the social revolution begins as well. The public shows are socialized, a model of production and exhibition of films, never seen before in the history of cinema, is created, where the workers are the owners and managers of the industry, through the unions.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
17. State of the Union
A documentary film showcasing the ascension of the state of Virginia from its rank of 51st worst state for labor unions, to 23rd, in a matter of just three years.
18. Brothers on the Line
Brothers on the Line explores the extraordinary journey of the Reuther brothers – Walter, Roy, and Victor – union organizers whose unshakeable devotion led an army of workers into an epic human rights struggle.
It has an average vote of 7.5 on TMDB.
19. Freedom Isn't Free — The Freedom Charter Today
Since its adoption in June 1955 by the Congress movement, the Freedom Charter has been the key political document that acted as a beacon and source of inspiration in the liberation struggle against Apartheid. It was reputedly the main source that informed democratic South Africa’s liberal constitution and a constant reference point for the ruling African National Congress and rival political parties that it spawned since 1994, all claiming the Freedom Charter’s legacy. Freedom Isn’t Free assesses the history and role of the charter, especially in relation to key political and socio-economic aspects of developments in South Africa up to the present period. It includes rare archival footage with interviews of a cross-section of outspoken influential South Africans.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
20. The Uprising of '34
Textile workers recall with pride the long- suppressed story of the General Textile Strike of 1934 when 500,000 Southern mill laborers walked off their jobs.
