Films For Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day celebrates working people and the labor unions that brought working people the 40-hour work week, the 8-hour day, overtime pay, work-place safety, paid holidays and vacations, and a host of other protections and benefits. To honor those hard-working people and organized labor, here is a list (in no particular order) of a dozen worthy narrative films for Labor Day.

Norma Rae (1979)

For many people, the words “labor union” bring to mind the image of Sally Field standing up in defiance in “Norma Rae.” Field won an Oscar for her unforgettable, inspiring character, a worker in a Southern textile factory who becomes involved in labor organizing and stands up to management after the factory workers’ health is threatened in the workplace. This stirring drama, based on a true story, also stars Beau Bridges as Norma Rae’s husband Sonny and Ron Leibman as an union organizer from the Northeast. The moment when little Norma Rae stands up holding a sign that read “union” is one of the most memorable in film.

Matewan (1987)

Based on a famous 1920 strike that pitted Virginia coal miners against enforcers hired by the mine owners, writer/director John Sayles’ emotionally searing film dramatically explores the brutal lengths to which mining companies would go to prevent miners from organizing. Everything the miners have, even their homes and furniture, belong to the mining company, because like the song says “I owe my soul to the company store.” Chris Cooper stars as an organizer who leads a group of miners, including James Earl Jones, to defy them.

Bound for Glory (1976)

Director Hal Ashby’s biopic about folk singing legend Wood Guthrie stars David Carradine, and follows the singer/songwriter’s travels among California migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. Carradine does a great job portraying the restless legend in his younger years, in his formative journey to become a voice for unions and workers.

Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Director John Ford brings to life John Steinbeck’s searing novel of the hard lives of poor farmers displaced by the Great Depression’s Dust Bowl who travel to California only to struggle to survive as migrant workers in often miserable conditions and struggling for the right to organize. Ford created one of Hollywood’s great classics, with Henry Fonda as Tom Joad in a memorable role.

Swing Shift

Not about unions but about the women who stepped up to during World War II to keep the factories running. Goldie Hawn plays one of the wives who went to work, a step that changes how she sees the world and herself.

Made In Dagenham (2010)

Based on a true story, Sally Hawkins stars as one of the women workers at the Ford Dagenham car plant in Britain who went on strike over sexual discrimination in 1968.

Hoffa (1992)

Danny DeVito’s biopic about union boss Jimmy Hoffa features a riveting performance by Jack Nicholson, in a lavish, big-budget film with a script by David Mamet. DeVito is respectful towards Hoffa and stubbornly neutral on Hoffa’s rumored corruption. The film deserves credit for including Hoffa’s early days as an organizer when just being in a union could get you killed.

Pajama Game (1957)

Labor relations are given a musical comedy spin in the movie version of the Broadway smash. Sparks fly on site and after hours at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory when newly hired supervisor Sid Sorokin (John Hyatt, Bonnie’s pop) deals with the Grievance Committee from Amalgamated Shirt and Pajama Workers’ Union Local 343, namely “Babe” Williams (Doris Day in all her freckle-faced, Technicolor glory), all over an increase in the hourly wage of 7 and a 1/2 cents. Toe-tappin’ tunes from the “Damn Yankees” team of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (“Hey There”, “There Once Was a Man”, “Hernando’s Hideaway,” “Steam Heat”) and choreography from the legendary Bob Fosse make this flick a nonstop delight for workers and management alike.

9 to 5 (1980)

In this musical comedy, no union protects the three overworked women in this tale, played by Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who are slaving away in an office for an insensitive, sexist boss (Dabney Coleman). Songs, comedy and a well-deserved come-uppence for one bad boss enliven this popular hit film.

Silkwood (1983)

Mike Nichols directs this gripping drama from a script by Nora Ephron, about a real union organizer and whistle-blower, Karen Silkwood (played by Meryl Streep). Silkwood finds herself in deep trouble with her employer Kerr-McGee, when she finds life-threatening safety violations at the plutonium plant where she works.

Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplin gives his views on factory work and the struggle between labor and management, as the Tramp struggles to survive in the modern world, in this brilliant, mostly-silent comedy. The story is not specifically about unions but it is clear where Chaplin’s sympathies lay.

Newsies (1992)

A young Christian Bale stars as a newsboy who leads a group of other underpaid and exploited young newsies, in this more-serious musical, based on a real New York City newsboys strike in 1899. An inspiring, tuneful, American Dream kind of film, which became a surprise hit on video, and then went on to become a hit Broadway musical.

Other Labor Day films to consider:

Harlan County, U.S.A (1976, documentary), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Native Land (1942), Bread and Roses (2000), The Organizer (1963), Salt of the Earth (1954), Joe Hill (1971), Germinal (1993).

Contributed by Cate Marquis, Michelle McCue