On July 5 through July 31, LaborFest celebrates the SF general strike with movies, theater, art, poetry and forum. This is the 70th Anniversary of the strike and the struggles of working people continue.
LaborFest 2004
11th Annual
70th Anniversary of San Francisco General Strike
July 5 - July 31, 2004
70 Years & The Struggle Continues
www.laborfest.net
Welcome to LaborFest 2004
This is the 70th anniversary of the San Francisco General Strike, and LaborFest is happy to take part in this historic celebration. The successful gains of the general strike of ‘34 and many other battles of labor are now under attack. From wages and healthcare to education and our pensions, we are under the gun. The massive cost of the war in Iraq is being paid for by the layoffs of librarians, closure of healthcare centers and in many other areas. The effort to outsource our work to slave labor in other lands and to make this a Wal-Mart economy for our children is on the agenda unless we stand up and organize. LaborFest was created in part bring our history to light during the month of July.
One important lesson of the ‘34 general strike is that if all working people come together collectively, they can not only defend their union and conditions, but also, they can help lay the basis for the advancement of all working people. This is what made San Francisco one of the most unionized places in the United States. Let us make this 2004 celebration an example of the creativity and power of working people to make a world of justice and peace and to take our traditions forward.
In Solidarity,
The LaborFest Planning Committee
July 5 (Monday) 7:30 PM -20
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
From Wharf Rats to The Lords of The Docks
World Premier by Haskell Wexler
LaborFest opens with the world premier of Haskell Wexler’s From Wharf Rats to The Lords of the Docks with actor Ian Ruskin. The film is based on the life of Harry Bridges and his struggle to defend and organize the longshoremen on the West Coast. The cast includes Pete Seeger, Ed Asner and ILWU longshore workers. It makes history live for working people today who face growing threats on their lives and those of their families.
Actor Ian Ruskin and filmmaker Haskell Wexler will also attend this premier screening.
www.theharrybridgesproject.org
Performance by Actor’s Equity members
Joining them will be members of the Actor’s Equity of San Francisco including Marie Shell, the granddaughter of Harry Bridges. They will present a theatrical performance on the issues facing working people in America.
Victoria Theater - 2961-16th St. at Mission St. San Francisco
(For advance tickets - call 415-642-8066)
July 6 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM – 7
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Labor’s Turning Point: The Minneapolis Truck Strikes of 1934 - A Rank and File
By John De Graaf 1981 (44 min.)
This film is the only documentary on the historic Minneapolis Teamster general strike. This powerful strike led by the rank and file provided the game plan according to Jimmy Hoffa for the organization of the Teamsters nationally. Local 574 in Minneapolis was the local in July 1934 that successfully challenged the companies, politicians and national guard in winning union recognition for thousands of teamsters. It also cost the lives of two workers.
Rendezvous OnThe Docks (Le Rendez Vous Des Quais )
By Paul Carpita 1955 (1 hr 15 min.)
In 1953, France was occupying Indo-China, and the body bags were coming home on the docks of Marseilles. This film shot in Marseilles shows the efforts of the bosses to win over a docker who will oppose and spy on a dockers’ strike against the war in Vietnam. The film was banned in France and is one of the only dramatic films about workers’ action against war. It depicts the growing politicalization of workers who see the war as an attack on all labor. The film, which was produced by the Cinepax film collective will be followed by a discussion with ILWU longshore workers.
(This film will be shown again on July 14, Wednesday at the La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley)
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St., at 25th, San Francisco
July 7 (Wednesday) 8:00 PM .00
One man play
Adventures of A Substitute Teacher
Written and performed by UESF member Steven Karwoski
Directed by Sean Owens
Actor Steven Karwoski makes a daring escape from the restaurant industry. He "trades slinging hash for dodging spitballs. In the move from the frying pan into the fire he discovers the lighter and darker realities of the public school system. His lively stories illuminate the reality of being on the job and dealing with the growing crisis in education. As someone who has worked three jobs in order to survive he is able to hit home about working America
www.sffringe.org
Exit Theatre
156 Eddy St., San Francisco
Reservations: 415-673-3847
July 8 (Thursday) through July 10 (Saturday) 7:00 PM - .00 (sliding scale)
One woman play
Boxcar Bertha
By Kerry Reid in collaboration with Christina Augello & John Warren
Starring Christina Augello with original music and accompaniment by Jack "Applejack" Walroth
Boxcar Bertha is a one-woman play with musical backdrop based on the legendary depression era hobo, feminist, and anarchist Bertha Thompson. Featuring Christina Augello, this depression era saga follows Bertha, a rugged hard living woman who rode the rails in the 1930s, on a journey from hobo to grifter, from prostitute to activist.
Boxcar Bertha’s original music and accompaniment by Jack "Applejack" Walroth shapes a simpatico musical backdrop to resonate with Bertha's alternate universe of boxcars, soapboxes, and bordellos.
Christina Augello is the founder and artistic director of EXIT Theatre. She has been an actress, producer and director in the Bay Area for over 30 years.
Jack "Applejack" Walroth ia a veteran freelance San Francisco singer, musician, songwriter, and music publisher, whose career has remained somewhat below the radar, even though it has included longstanding associations with many better known musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Exit Theatre
156 Eddy St., San Francisco
Reservations: 415-673-3847
July 10 (Saturday) 10:00 AM Free
WALKING TOUR - Land, Labor and Buildings
Visiting historic downtown San Francisco
By Dave Giesen
Come along on a brisk, provocative walking tour exploring the accomplishments of Labor in literally building San Francisco. Along the way, we learn about Kate Kennedy who set the legal precedent for equal pay for women in the U.S., discover an SF newspaperman's attempt to liberate Labor from income taxes (after all, he argued, doesn't labor fully give of itself in the course of laboring), and burnish the memory of Sun Yat-sen who proposed, while in SF, the most extensive labor reform ever proposed for 20th Century China!
The narration rings with tales of engineering marvels, saucy living, astonishing proposals, and gentle humanity.
Meet at Dewey Monument in the center of Union Square, concluding at the corner of Market and Montgomery Streets (2 hours)
For info: Call LaborFest - 415-642-8066
July 10 (Saturday) 8:00 PM Free
Song and Poetry Swap
With Freedom Song Network and Bernie Gilbert
For over 20 years, the Freedom Song Network has been helping keep alive the spirit of labor and political song in the Bay Area, on picket lines, at rallies, on concert stages and at songswaps. Bring songs to share. Everyone welcome, regardless of musical ability or training.
885 Clayton St., at Carl St., SF
For more info: (415) 648-3457
July 11 (Sunday) 5:00 PM Free
Wordsmiths - Poetry and Fiction Reading
Poetry and fiction read by diverse award-winning writers and in-your-face activists. With poet and labor advocate Sarah Menefee, Laura del Fuego, (author of Carmen Garcia was here 'c/s'), James Tracy from Molotov Mouths, Chance Martin of Street Sheet,Jeanne Powell from Celebration of the Word, poet/carpenter Dan Richman on construction work, and Mickey Ellinger on the Irish in America. MC: Alice Rogoff from the National Writers Union.
City Lights Book Store
261 Columbus at Broadway, San Francisco
July 14 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM .00
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
BASTILLE DAY celebration
Rendezvous At The Docks (Le Rendez Vous Des Quais )
By Paul Carpita 1955 (1 hr 15 min.)
As the US becomes entangled in another quagmire in Iraq, it is important to look at the history of labor and war. This historic film views the French war of Vietnam from the viewpoint of Marseilles dockworkers. French government officials and shipping bosses are intent on weakening the union and seek to recruit a dockworker to spy and subvert workers’ protest against the war in Vietnam. The film, which was shot by the Cinepax collective, takes a look from the inside of how workers are manipulated and the role of labor solidarity in defeating union busting. We will also have music We will also have music by Moh Alileche & fellow muscians and a discussion after the film.
La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck at Prince, Berkeley
July 15 (Thursday) 7:00 PM Free
The War on Drugs and Working People
Report by Michael Whitty
Detroit professor Michael Whitty will report on how the so called "war on drugs" has been used to target and harass trade unionists and working people. Transportation workers and other workers have been subjected to arbitrary testing and firings based on false tests and targeting and now 12 million transportation workers may be required to get biometric ID cards in order to keep their jobs.
http://business.udmercy.edu/bios/bio_whitty.htm
http://www.scrantonpress.com/
University of San Francisco
(Location to be announced-Please check our web or call)
July 16 (Friday) 7:00 PM - 7
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Love, Women & Flowers
By Marta Rodriquez and Jorge Silva
1988, 58 min. from Columbia (English subtitles)
Flowers are Colombia's third largest export. Behind the beauty of carnations sold in the U.S. is a horror story of hazardous working conditions for 60,000 women who labor in the flower industry. The use of pesticides and fungicides, some banned in the developed countries that export them, has drastic health and environmental consequences. This beautiful and powerful documentary is the final collaborative effort of Marta Rodriguez and her husband Jorge Silva. The filmmakers evoke the testimonies of the women workers and document their efforts to organize with urgency and intimacy. Spanish with English sub-titles.
Open The Road to The Women Fighters (Paso a las luchadoras)
By the Ojo Obrero Collective
2004, 33 min. from Argentina, English subtitles
Thousands of women in Argentina have taken up the struggle for liberation by their own hand. Paso a las luchadores focuses on seven women whose day-to-day struggles against sexism takes in all aspects of life. These Argentine women see that their oppression is created by the capitalist social system and in Argentina it is manifested by the lack of jobs, the double burden of exploitation that working women face, domestic and institutional violence, and in the lack of freedom to govern one's own body. (Abortion remains illegal in Argentina.) These women look to the creation of an independent assembly of the working class as the way forward for the fight for working woman's power.
http://www.ojoobrero.org
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St., at 25th St., San Francisco
July 17 (Saturday) 2:00 PM Free
The Two Tier, Labor & The Wal-Mart Economy
Join authors Michael Whitty, Albert Dragstedt and BART-SEIU790 V.P. Ray Quan as they discuss the role of the two tiers, how to fight them and how the Wal-Mart economy is affecting working people here.
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia St./20th St., San Francisco
July 17 (Saturday) 7:30 PM
CONCERT by Anne Feeney & Chris Chandler
A War on Workers
Labor troubadours Anne Feeney & Chris Chandler give the world a blast in their words and songs. They have traveled the country singing for the rights of working people and the oppressed from the "War Zone" in Decatur, Ill to the battles against the WTO. In the midst of madness, they expose the realities and contradictions of the world. They hit home about the struggles of workers and the battles for the hearts and minds. You can’t afford to miss this high-octane concert.
www.annefeeney.com
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St., at 25th St., San Francisco
July 18 (Sunday) 10:15 AM Boarding, 10:30 AM Departure
.00
Labor Maritime History Boat Tour
Boat leaves promptly at 10:30 AM
On the boat, we will hear about the labor, social environmental and political history of the Bay Area from the people who know it. Historians Harvey Schwartz, labor process photographer Joe Blum, UBC labor historian Mike Munoz and workers who are building the new east span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge will participate. See www.newbaybridge.org for more information about the bridge and the workers who are building it.
To make your reservation, call (415) 642-8066, and leave your 1) name (spell it out), 2) number of your reservation, and 3) your phone number. You should also send a check to LaborFest, P.O. Box 40983, San Francisco, CA 94140. You can also contact us by e-mail: laborfest@laborfest.net, http://www.laborfest.net
Terminal E (South side of the Ferry building), San Francisco
Tour lasts 3 hours
Some food and refreshments will be available on board.
July 18 (Sunday) 5:30 PM Free
INTERNATIONAL LABOR PANEL
Labor, War and Repression
Join the Doro-Chiba Railway workers from Japan, KCTU Seoul unionists from Korea and others from around the world as reports are made on the use of the war as a pretext to eliminate labor & democratic rights for transportation workers. In Japan the government is seeking to militarize all transportation workers. In response to these assaults, many transportation unions are organizing against repressive legislation that would destroy their right to strike and organize.
Korean workers also face increased attacks on their democratic labor rights. Activist local leaders of the KCTU have committed suicide in protest of this labor repression. The government is now allowing employers to legally seize the personal homes and property of unionists who go on strike.
In the US, the government is seeking to legislate the Maritime Security Act as well as seeking to require iso metric identity cards for 12 million transportation workers. This could allow the screening out of militant unions and workers who disagree with government policies.
Co-sponsored by the Million Worker March Committee & ILWU Local 10
www.millionworkermarch.org
ILWU Local 10 Henry Schmidt Room
400 Northpoint/Mason St., San Francisco
July 18 (Sunday) 8:00 PM Donation
International Labor Music Evening
International labor music evening with Agrippa from Seattle, Washington and Scott Gerber, a Jewish cowboy singer and Samsara. Bring your international labor song for solidarity.
www.agrippa.info
ILWU Local 10 Henry Schmidt Room
400 Northpoint/Mason St., San Francisco
July 19 (Monday) 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Reception for the book,
We Live on the Railways by Hiroshi Nakano
Hiroshi Nakano has spent his working life on the Japanese railways. This timely and important book tells the story of the struggle of Japanese rail workers to organize, strike and defend their union against privatization and union busting.
www.doro-chiba.org
New College Theater
777 Valencia St., at 19th St, San Francisco
July 19 (Monday) 7:30 PM Film .00
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
120th Anniversary of Pullman’s Strike -Celebrate All Transportation Workers
Ten Thousand Black Men Named George
Directed by Robert Townsend (2002, 95 min.)
In the 1920s, the rights of American workers to join a labor union were still considered an open question, and African-Americans were routinely denied their civil and economic rights. So in 1925, when journalist and political activist Asa Philip Randolph and railway car porter Ashley Totten formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, it was a bold gesture, which proved to have a major impact in both labor and race relations in America. 10,000 Black Men Named George is a made-for-cable feature which dramatizes the struggle of Randolph (played by Andre Braugher) and Totten (Mario Van Peebles) to organize railway porters -- a demanding and sometimes dangerous job which was held almost exclusively by black men, who were paid low wages for demanding hours -- against the staunch opposition of Barton Davis (Kenneth McGreggor), head of the Pullman Railway Company and a fierce opponent of both unionization and civil rights initiatives.
10,000 Black Men Named George (the title refers to the fact Pullman porters were often called "George" by white passengers, which was considered a racial slur) also features Charles S. Dutton as Milton Webster, a veteran porter who joined the fight to organize; Carla Brothers as Lucille Randolph, Asa's wife who would play a major role in the early years of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Brock Peters as Leon Frey, an early member of the union who would in time betray their cause. Music will be played by Jack Chernos
New College Theater
777 Valencia St., at 19th St, San Francisco
July 20 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM Free
Words, Music, War and Labor
Join LaborFest as we speak in words and music on the war with poets Adam David Miller, Carol Tarlen, Alice Rogoff, Rolando Carrillo, Nellie Wong, music and words by Upsurge and others. We will also have poetry about the attacks this May on Lori Haigh, owner of the Capobianco gallery. She displayed a painting on the war and was terrorized out of San Francisco. When artists and people who show art are physically assaulted, where are we going? North Beach residents and artists recently rallied to defend the right to show their art in San Francisco.
New College
766 Valencia St./19th St., San Francisco
July 21 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM .00
Day Laborers Benefit with Film and Words
Join in supporting the struggle for human rights by the SF Day Laborers Program. Immigrant workers are under the gun, and this benefit with music, film & words will help their struggle.
www.sfdaylabor.com
New College
766 Valencia St./19th St., San Francisco
July 22 (Thursday) 7:00 PM $ 5.00
A Job To Win (Bonim-Atid)
By Shiri Wilk and Video 48 (Israel) 56 minutes
This film exposes the introduction of construction workers from Rumania, Poland and China into Israel in order to replace Palestinians and the increasing exploitation of all workers by the employers.
www.odaction.org/wac
Friend or Foe
By Jiyoung Lee (2003 90 min. -US version)(Korean)
Friend or Foe documents the bitter struggle of contracted workers at KT (Korean Telecommunication) against globalization. Under the imperatives of structural adjustment, KT forced workers to work under "non-regular" contracts at lower pay, heightened job insecurity and limited legal protection vis-à-vis regularly employed workers. When the company announced its new so-called downsizing plan in 2000, they fired 7,000 contract workers. The targeted workers launched a new union and waged a bitter struggle. After 517 consecutive days, the union lost, in the face of police oppression and betrayal by regularly employed workers. Friend or Foe exposes the serious situation imposed by globalization on workers compelled to accept temporary status and provides critical analysis of the weaknesses of the current labor movement. Directed by award-winning female director Jiyoung Lee who won the Best Documentary prize at the 2002 Pusan International Film Festival.
http://www.lnp89.org
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St., at 25th St., San Francisco
July 23 (Friday) 7:00 PM .00
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Thank You for Your Patience
By Yahia Mahamdi, 53 minutes (2004)
This looks at the real costs of being injured on the job and how working people cope with this disaster. Workers’ lives are being destroyed on the job and this issue has been covered over by the media. The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the new attacks on workers’ comp and what injured workers can do to fight back. Director Yahia Mahamdi will attend.
nomadsinc@aol.com
www.injuredworkerscoalition.com
www.workersmemorialday.com
Bridge Builders, Celebrating the Al Zampa Bridge
By the California Building Trades and Debra Chapman
9 min, 2004
This short documentary covers the history of the opening of the Al Zampa bridge. This is the first major bridge in the world named after a bridge builder.
3 minute videos from Japan
30 minutes
This collection of 3-minute videos gives a spice of the lives of Japanese working people. The Japan LaborFesta has brought together films about the lives of workers and their families as they fight the increasing exploitation and downsizing.
www.labornetjp.org
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St. at 25th St., San Francisco
July 24 (Saturday) 10:00 AM Free
Labor Maritime History Walk
With historian Louis Prisco
A four-hour walk along San Francisco's Waterfront, revisiting the terrain of the maritime strikes and general strike, which established organized labor on the West Coast. We will stop at the sites of major events: including the burning of the "Blue Books," Battle of Rincon Hill and scene of the fatalities on "Bloody Thursday," July 5, 1934. The walk will be free, but a .00 pamphlet with a map is also available. Each walk will be limited to 20 persons. To sign up for walk, please call (415) 841-1254. Following each walk, there will be optional coffee, beers or dinner stop at the historic Eagle Café on Pier 39.
Harry Bridges Plaza
In front of Ferry Building, San Francisco
Reservation required (limited to 20)
Call (415) 841-1254 to make reservation
July 24 (Saturday) 2:00 PM Free
From Blackjacks to Briefcases
A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting in The United States
Join Ohio author Robert Michael Smith as he presents his work From Blackjacks To Briefcases, A History of Commercialized Strikebreaking and Unionbusting In The United States. This book exposes the inner working of organized union busting from the Pinkertons to Vance International and the multi-billion dollar industry that now uses temporary agencies like Manpower to destroy organized labor.
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=246351080789025
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia St., at 20th St., San Francisco
July 24 (Saturday) 7:00 PM .00
Rockin’ Solidarity Labor Chorus
Featuring "Beans, Bacon & Gravy: Songs and Stories from the 1930s
*Working Class humor from the era
*Oral histories about the Depression & the New Deal
*Songs, including Hard Travelln’, Homage to Herbert Hoover, God Bless The Child, Hallelujah, I’m A Bum, and Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
New College of California Theater
777 Valencia St. San Francisco
July 25 (Sunday) 10:00 AM .00
WPA Structures Bus Tour
The New Deal and the Structures They Built
With WPA historian Harvey Smith and others, you will learn about the major contribution construction workers made during the depression era during the WPA program in the building of San Francisco. Their monuments stand as important landmarks for all working people
SCHEDULE
9:30 AM
Assemble at Aquatic Park
10:00 AM
Depart for Rincon Annex - View lobby and Murals; View Treasure Island (across the bay)
10:30 AM
Depart for Sunshine School (Bryant & 25th) via the old Federal Building - View interior of Sunshine School
11:15 AM
Depart for Golden Gate Park, Stables via the U. S. Mint – View public and police stables
12:30 PM
Depart for Beach Chalet - View mural, mosaics and wood carvings, and have lunch
2:00 PM
Return to Aquatic Park
Meet at the bottom corner of Aquatic Park Hyde & Jefferson
(Reservation required: call (415) 642-8066)
Make reservation and send check to LaborFest, P.O. Box 40983, SF, CA 94140
(Sandwiches and drink will be available on the bus)
July 25 (Sunday) 1:00-7:00 PM Donation suggesting of .00
Celebrating Our Organizing with Films, Panels, Awards & Words
By Sex Workers Organized for Labor, Human and Civil Rights
All workers need unions and rights on the job. The victory of the Lusty Ladies Club and their first contract with SEIU 790 is an important milestone in the effort to organize the thousands of sex workers in San Francisco. Sex workers are also organizing around the world from Italy to India and this event will screen films, host discussion panels and speak truth to power in the struggle for human rights on the job.
SCHEDULE
12 Noon to 1:00 PM
Straight for the Money
Producer & Director: Hima B., 58 min. 1994;
This documentary profiles eight lesbian and bisexual women who work as prostitutes, strippers, porn stars, and phone sex workers as they discuss how they negotiate their jobs, intimacy with lovers, and values. "Sexperts" Carol Queen, Annie Sprinkle, Scarlot Harlot, and Joan Nestle provide insight into the historical presence of queer sex workers. This Video has screened internationally in film festivals, universities, museums, and was in the 1994 Whitney Museum's series From India to America: New Directions in Indian-American Film & Video and in the 1995 Whitney Biennial.
1:15 PM to 2:30 PM
Tales of the Night Fairies
Script & Direction by Shohini Ghosh
(Bengali/English Subtitles/ 74 min/ 2002)
Indian sex workers organized for their labor, human and civil rights.
2:45 PM to 3:45 PM
Legalization Sucks: The Nevada Brothels (60 min)
Nevada’s legal brothel sex industry worker share their view of on their working conditions, the owners’ priorities, the drug and alcohol trade and how it’s regulation by the police, social stigmatization, the effects of working on family life and other topics.
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Victoria Principal’s Sex Education for Sex Workers by Sex Workers (31min.)
Produced by Sex Workers Outreach Project-of Australia. And there will be a test afterwards and discussion to follow. 1hr.
5:15 PM to 6:15 PM
Sexual assaults on the job
San Francisco Adult Sexual Assault Task Force members provide information on how to report a sexual assault and take questions. 1 hr.
6:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Award Ceremony for Bobby S
Sex Workers Organized for Labor, Human and Civil Rights will Award a Life Time Achievement Award to Bobby S. for decades of service in providing organizational support to sex workers and their different organizations. Please come and bring your appreciation, love and stories about Bobby to this "only in San Francisco" style lo
By Sex Workers Organized for Labor, Human and Civil Rights
New College
777 Valencia St/19th St. San Francisco
July 25 (Sunday) 7:00 PM -12
Un-Conventional Cabaret
Featuring Jon Fromer, Carol Denny, Pic 'n Trix, Folk This!, the Deadly Poets Society and surprise guests. They're at it again! It's another election year and the choices for public office are once again as narrow as the Golden Gate. Come celebrate your disaffection with the two party system by attending the Unconventional Cabaret, an evening of music and comedy.
http://www.folkthis.org
La Pena Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck at Prince, Berkeley
July 26 (Monday) 7:00 PM Free
Red Dirt - Book reading
By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
This book is about the lives of working class people in dirt poor Oklahoma and their struggle to survive. Roxanne’s grandfather was an organizer in the IWW. She will also discuss a new book Lucy Parson’s Writings about Haymarket labor militant Lucy Parsons and her life in the struggles for worker’s freedom and justice.
http://www.reddirtsite.com
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia St./20th St., San Francisco
July 27 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM Free
Lessons and History of the San Francisco General Strike
Join labor historians Harvey Schwartz, Jack Rasmus, Bob Carson (invited) and others in looking at the SF General Strike.
What was the importance of the San Francisco General Strike for working people in the 1930s and what does this history mean today? These panelists will provide an exciting and illuminating view of the Big Strike of 1934.
ILWU Local 6
255 9th St near Howard, San Francisco
July 28 (Wednesday) 8:00 PM .00
One man play
Are Ya Working?
The Rants of a Post-Industrial Hybrid
Written and Performed by Steven Karwoski
"After 20 years of waiting tables, a guy’s bound to have steam to blow off: that’s Steve Karwoski’s aim in this one-man show. His rants about being a working class Polish/Irish America are as energetic as they are heartfelt, expertly mixing razor-sharp observational humour with an understanding of the class struggle that shaped urban America. While the play’s subtitle makes it sound like a post-doctoral thesis, don’t go in expecting pretension. It’s about the struggle of those born to working-class families to define themselves despite the elite who ignore them and the family that misunderstand them. And Karwoski isn’t shy about laying out his own foibles and failures for the sake of getting a laugh." - Erika Thorkelson
Exit Theatre
156 Eddy St., San Francisco
(Reservations: 415-673-3847)
July 29 (Thursday) 7:00 PM .00
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Fiat Respect! by Regan Brashear 2002 34.26 minutes
This film shows the historic strike action of Coalition Of University Employees strike in 2002. Thousands of UC clerical workers for the first time showed their power. It also exposes the role of the Regents of the University of California in their concerted effort to break unions and prevent workers from winning decent working conditions and benefits.
reganlwu@yahoo.com
Commemoration by Kazumi Torii 2004 28 minutes
In 1960, the Black AFM Local 669 and White AFM Local 6 musician locals merged and in February of this year the merged locals had a commemoration. Mixing music with oral history of San Francisco, we learn about a hidden part of San Francisco's racial and labor history and the struggle for equal union rights. Members of merged Local AFM 6 will be in attendance.
kazmit@pacbell.net
Fire On Pier 32’ by Jack Rasmus 70 min. strike segment
This video is a recording of the the first full length theatrical production about the San Francisco General Strike, one sees the issues and conflicts that brought the strike to a head.
http://www.kyklosproductions.com/
Other Films/Videos will also be programmed this evening. Watch web site for further details.
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St., at 25th St., San Francisco
July 30 (Friday) 7:00 PM Donation requested
Singing Out at The Redstone
Labor Troubadours Carol Denny, the singing Jewish cowboy Scott Gerber, Jack Chernos, Upsurge and others will give their voices in the struggles that working people are going through here and around the world. Let our voices ring out.
Redstone Building-The Lab Theater
2948 16th St. at Capp St. San Francisco
July 31 (Saturday) 2:00 PM Free
Land of Orange Groves and Jails: Upton Sinclair’s California
Book reading and discussion by Lauren Coodley
Lauren Coodley, author of Napa: The Transformation of an American Town (Making of America) and a new biography Land of Orange Groves and Jails: Upton Sinclair’s California will read and discuss the hidden social political history of California.
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/>
www.heydaybooks
Modern Times Bookstore
888 Valencia St./20th St., San Francisco
July 31 (Saturday) 7:30 PM
-100 (Donation to the Redstone Tenants Association.)
No one turned away for lack of funds!
Landmark Ceremony for The Redstone Labor Temple
The Redstone Labor Temple will celebrate our historical landmark status with an evening of entertainment at the Lab 2940 16th Street in the Mission district. There will be dedication and presentation of the proclamation by a member of the Board of Supervisors and by unions that once used the building for their offices and union halls. This is also the 90th anniversary of the building where the vote for the general strike took place.
Redstone Building (The LAB Theater)
2948 16th St. at Capp near Mission St. San Francisco
LaborFest is endorsed and supported by the San Francisco Labor Council, ILWU International, ILWU Local 10, ILWU Local 34, IBEW Local 6, District Council of Iron Workers, Maritime Trade Port Council, Carpenters Local 22, Laborers International Union Local 261, Stationary Engineers 39, SF Web Pressmen and Prepress Workers’ Union GCIU Local 4N, SEIU Local 250, SEIU Local 535, SEIU Local 790, MEBA, Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers 21, Bricklayers, Tilelayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 3, International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 8, Sign Display & Allied Crafts Local 510, Seafarers International Union, Alameda Central Labor Council, Labor Video Project, National Writers Union Unit 3(UAW Local 1981), Holt Labor Library, AFT Local 2121, United Taxicab Workers, Pride at Work, Labornet.org, United Transportation Union 1740, Actors Equity, KPFA, KALW, Labor Video Project and many others.
Special thanks to the San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grants Program
We also thank the following for the use of their facilities: Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Exit Theatre, Victoria Theatre, Modern Times Bookstore, La Pena Cultural Center, City Lights Bookstore, New College Center for Education & Social Action, ILWU Local 10, ILWU Local 6.
Please Check the web and our phone for additional films and other events that will be added.
The LaborFest Planning Committee and the Advisory Committee are all volunteers. We believe that this festival will bring greater solidarity and labor consciousness for all working people. We thank those who have given their talent, time and financial contribution to make this festival a success. This festival is also dedicated to SEIU 790 Rad Tech SFGH steward Ken Gilmore who committed suicide in protest of the working conditions and harassment on the job.
In solidarity,
LaborFest Planning Committee
LaborFest Advisory Committee: Tillie Olsen, Archie Green
LaborFest Planning Committee: Alice Rogoff, Kazmi Torii, David Williams, Steve Zeltzer,
Bobbi Rabinowitz, Jack Chernos, Jay Martin, Kimberly Esslinger, Carl Bryant
Segment organizers and volunteers: Ruach Graffis, Elazar Friedman, Daisy Anarchy, Maxine Doogan, Christina Augello
LaborFest booklet designed by Kazmi Torii, web master Kimberly Esslinger
Original: SF LaborFest 2004