Thank you, Dayne, for sharing this important story. In the 1990s I heard several stories from workers organizing who were required by the boss to sit in a "captive audience meeting" where management lawyers screened "American Dream." I appreciate having a specific instance to cite. Love and Solidarity, Peter
On Wed, Feb 21, 2024 at 5:17 PM Dayne Goodwin <daynegood...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thank you Peter for sharing your critical review of "American Dream". > In a corporate buy-out situation in late 1996 a strike developed in > the Salt Lake valley as the Hexcel Corporation bought out Hercules > Corporation and tore up the existing union contact with OCAW Local > 2591. I had a longtime working relationship with OCAW leaders in > several locals and was able to encourage our new, young Solidarity > chapter to actively solidarize with the strike, i.e. we took over the > picket line on Christmas and New Years. We got to know OCAW activists > who were interested in our socialist views and we discussed organizing > an educational/solidarity event to reach out to their co-workers. I > suggested screening "American Dream" which i perceived as showing an > inspiring grass-roots fight in a discouraging situation (like that > facing OCAW at Hexcel). OCAW members informed me that the Hexcel > corporation had already convened a screening for all employees at work > to discourage them from putting any hope in labor unions. > Dayne > > On Wed, Feb 21, 2024 at 3:12 PM Peter Rachleff <rachl...@macalester.edu> > wrote: > > > > " Harlan County" is a great film. > > And then Kopple did a hatchet job on the Hormel strikers and > > won an Oscar for it! And then she kissed Woody Allen's ****.in > > a truly dreadful film. > > > > I offer my review from ORAL HISTORY REVIEW journal: > > AMERICAN DREAM [Film]. BarbaraKopple, producer-director. > > 1990. Color. 100 min. 16 mm., also 35 mm. Distributor:Miramax, 375 > > Greenwich Street, N.Y., NY 10013,(212) 941-3800. > > > > The 1980s was the worst decade for working people since the Great > > Depression of the 1930s. Mines, mills, and factories closed; workers lost > > their jobs; unions were broken; union organizing drives failed; wages > > and benefits slid backwards;and union influence receded. By 1990, 84% > > of American workers were employed in non-union settings. > > In American Dream-the 1991 Academy Awardwinner for "best > > documentary feature"-BarbaraKopple uses the 1985-86 Hormel strike > > as a microcosm of this decade. Hormel, a profitable employer with a > > brand new plant, demanded its workers take substantial wage and benefit > > cuts because its competitors were getting concessions from their work- > > ers. When the workers resisted and went on strike, Hormel followed > > the new practice of the 1980s and "permanently replaced"them. Men > > and women with thirty and forty years' seniority,whose parents and grand- > > parents had given their lives to Hormel, found themselves cruelly cast > > aside. > > But the significance of the Hormel strike did not rest solely on this > > corporate juggernaut and the broken lives left in its wake. Two other > ele- > > ments were equally critical-that the workers chose to fight back, and > > that, when they did so, their own international union refused to support > > them. > . . . > > > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29043): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29043 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104497027/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
