Honoring workers on Labor Day 2011

2011 Labor Day Weekend events: What to do, what to avoid

The coming weekend brings with it the worker's holiday, Labor Day, and there are many events happening around town. Here is a list of events you should consider. Please choose wisely, and remember the holiday for what it really is.

Respect hard work. Celebrate Labor Day.

- 12th Annual Labor Day Picnic & Car Show, sponsored by Greater Louisville United Labor. For union members and their families. Louisville Zoo. Monday, September 5th. Always well attended and always a great time. Celebrate the true meaning of Labor Day with your fellow union members at the Louisville Zoo and enjoy food, music and a car show all for a low price. Click the link to view the official flyer for this year's event (pdf). Contains admission and important parking information.

- Belle of Louisville Labor Day cruise. 4th Street Wharf. Monday, September 5th.

- WorldFest 2011 on the Belvedere. Friday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 4th.

There are a few other events being held this week and on Labor Day Weekend that do not deserve your consideration for various reasons. Here are the ones to avoid completely:

- Grand Opening of Vendors' Village Flea Market. Thursday, September 1st. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here...BOYCOTT THIS DUMP.

- Mayor's Hike, Bike & Paddle. Monday, September 5th. Tell the Mayor to end the practice of holding these events on important holiday weekends. Memorial Day belongs to our lost veterans. Labor Day belongs to workers. Pick another time or end them all together. 

 - The Kentucky Flea Market, Friday, September 2nd through Monday, September 5th. Kentucky Fair and Expo Center. Save yourself the $8 parking fee and find something worthwhile to do. Didn't they get enough of your money for parking during the State Fair? Dixie Highway is a Flea Market paradise full of free parking. Besides, don't you have enough of that junk already?

"Jobs Not Cuts": Crowd calls for "New" New Deal

Several dozen protesters gathered at the federal courthouse at 6th & Broadway Wednesday to deliver a "Contract for the American Dream" to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. The "contract", written by over 125,000 Americans, is a plan to create jobs rather than destroy them through budget cuts.

After delivering the message -which will be ignored by McConnell- the protesters marched down to the state unemployment office chanting "Jobs not cuts!".

The event, staged by Move on.org, raised a good point. We should be focusing on job creation instead of slashing programs that help the middle class and poor people. This country asks nothing from its millionaires or corporations and places the burden squarely on the shoulders of those who can least afford it.

Much attention was given to the nation's crumbling infrastructure and the jobs that would be created by fixing it, but sadly, everyone seems to have forgotten about the WPA and the New Deal. Except these guys:

Have any money in the bank? It's FDIC insured, thanks to the New Deal. Ever get an FHA home loan? Is anyone in your family collecting Social Security? That's all New Deal territory.

Full employment is a goal we should set. A major result of full employment at high wages is a sharp, permanent decrease in the level of income inequality.

That's what created the middle class. And that's good for America.

SW Louisville news updates

- The Neighborhood Place location at Valley High School will be closed for renovations starting today, Monday June 20th until September. You may use any other Neighborhood Place location until that time. [CJ]

- Bullitt County has nice things: The Bullitt County library system has an $11 million dollar surplus. [CJ]

- GE workers represented by the IUE-CWA in Louisville have reached a national tentative agreement on wages and health insurance benefits. [GE Workers United]

- Residents in the Shively and Riverport areas have another choice for convenient, walk-in healthcare services with the opening of a Baptist Express Care in the Walmart at 7100 Raggard Road off Greenbelt Highway.

The Baptist Express Care clinic provides fast, affordable access to basic services such as check-ups, immunizations, screenings and care for minor injuries. The walk-in health clinic is the third to be owned and operated by Baptist East. Other locations are in the Walmart stores at 2020 Bashford Manor Lane, and on Shelbyville Road in Middletown.

The clinic is open for walk-in service seven days a week. Staffed by an advanced practice nurse, it has two exam rooms. A list of available “get well” and “stay well” services, with prices, is posted at the clinic. Care is provided for such common ailments as sore throats, sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, earaches, bladder infections, insect bites and stings, cholesterol screenings, blood sugar testing, vaccinations, drug screenings and routine physicals.

Most insurance is accepted.

Learn more at baptistexpresscare.com or call the clinic at (502) 632-5124.

SW Louisville News Updates

- Quiet Zone News: The three CSX railroad crossings at National Turnpike, New Cut Road and Outer Loop (near 3rd St.) will become "quiet zones" beginning May 27 at midnight. Please watch for the lights.

- The Southwest Farmers Market is back on June 4th and is being relocated to the north parking lot of Valley High School due to the ongoing construction activity. From 9am to 1pm, you can buy locally grown fruits and vegetables along with other items made and grown in Kentucky. The SW Farmers Market is now accepting debit/EBT cards and senior vouchers. Let's welcome them back.

- The Southwest Dream Team will be celebrating the group's latest sign placement on May 25 at noon. The Michel Tire location at 10601 Dixie Hwy. now has a huge banner attached to the side of the building. The banner features places and people in SW Louisville.

Analysis: This is a huge banner on the back side of a tire place. An empty lot stands between the tire shop and the newly-opened Mortenson Family Dental. The empty gravel lot, formerly an old car wash, is what allows one to see the banner. Question: What happens when the empty lot between Michel Tire and Mortenson Dental is developed?

- National contract negotiations have formally opened for GE's union employees represented by the IUE-CWA in Louisville at Appliance Park. Employee health care benefits are under attack by the company, which made a multi-billion dollar tax-free profit last year. Keep these employees in your thoughts as negotiations progress.

Clean air, good jobs. We can have both.

- Mayor Fischer has promised a fix for the sorry ass notification system existing today in Rubbertown that is supposed to alert residents to any danger emanating from nearby industry. The problem is, the residents have to call a line that has to be updated by the companies doing the emanating. That's like making people call the Weather Channel for a prerecorded message to find out exactly "where" the tornado is.

I hope they figure out a system that makes sense and is effective. Either that or, as some of us have proposed many times in the past, find the cash to buy out the residents of Rubbertown. If they can do it over airplane noise, they can do it over something like this.

The work there is hazardous and the production of some materials there puts the health of the neighbors at higher risk than normal. But these are good union jobs -the type we are fighting for- and that also has to be taken into account. The emission standards cannot be made so stringent that it forces the companies located there to move out to somewhere like Mexico, where there are no standards whatsoever. Clean air and good jobs...we can have both. Here's the story in case you missed it. [CJ]

- On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding their dream: The right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. The workers were trying to form a union with AFSCME.

On Monday April 4, unions, people of faith, civil and human rights activists, students and other progressive allies will host a range of community and workplace-focused actions. As part of this nationwide action, there will be a rally held downtown at 6th & Jefferson. The event begins at 5:30pm.

Join us in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for. It’s a day to show the power of our movement. We are one.

Disaster at Carbide: Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living

Note: The following was posted at Insider Louisville on Wednesday and has generated significant interest. I'm reposting it here today for my readers in case you missed it. Have a safe weekend - Brian

Trade unionists have many phrases to live by, not the least of which is this one: “Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.”

After finally breaching what seemed to be an “Iron Curtain” of silence among current and former employees of Carbide Industries on Bells Lane, Insider Louisville has been able to speak with two people who have direct knowledge about Monday’s incident in which two men were killed in an explosion.

A former Carbide Industries employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Insider Louisville on Wednesday, “It is my understanding they had plans to overhaul that furnace within two to three years. They should not have waited.”

The former employee then added with emphasis: “The place was a ticking time bomb. They constantly had smaller explosions there, you just didn’t hear about them on the news. Maybe if profits were put aside for a minute, those poor souls would still be alive today.”

Carbide Industries is North America’s largest producer of calcium carbide products, according to the company’s website

Calcium carbide is the primary source of acetylene gas used in metal fabrication.

The building Carbide operates out of is an old one, having been among the very first to begin operating in the Rubbertown area, an area that was to become the largest producer of synthetic rubber in the world.

Old facilities like the Carbide plant are inherently more hazardous than modern ones.

Carbide Industries’ Louisville location takes raw materials and turns them into calcium carbide by means of super-heating all the ingredients inside of a furnace in which temperatures can reach 3800 degrees Fahrenheit.

One insider told me that Carbide always was and continued to be a “filthy, nasty place to work” up until Monday’s explosion.

Time will tell if the sources are correct in their assessment of the situation. Until then, we should call on all traditional media outlets to stop repeating what they are told in press releases and use their resources to get to the bottom of the story.

Good times, bad times: Midweek Update

- Many people have become angry about the newest dildo store on Dixie Highway in Shively, saying Shively officials "gave in" to a high-priced attorney's "scare tactics" in granting the store a general business license. Here's the thing: If no one shops there, it will close. That's how you get rid of things like that, so stop going in there. [CJ]

- Ford CEO Alan Mulally was in town last night for GLI's annual meeting. A WHAS11 report says he is "optimistic" about the future of the Louisville Assembly Plant and gives the United Auto Workers union high praise for cooperating with the company. [WHAS11]

Insiders attending the meeting say Mulally then went on to shamelessly promote the awful idea of passing the Korea/US Free Trade Agreement, saying Ford was still unable to compete without the deal. More on the proposed agreement and its effect on U.S. jobs - [Insider Louisville]

- The Local Weekly has a nice story about Mary Lou Rippy of Dixie Florist. Mary Lou was a finalist for the 2010 Epic Award given by the National Association of Women Business Owners’ Louisville Chapter.[The Local Weekly]

- REMINDER: Saturday, March 19,  Councilwoman Vicki Welch hosts her next "Coffee with Your Councilwoman" at First String Family Sports Grill at 5921 New Cut Road. This month's coffee features District 5 school board representative Linda Duncan and gets underway at 9am.

- Valley High School Alumni Association has their regular monthly meeting this Thursday, March 17th, at 6:30 PM in the old TV Science Room. All alumni are welcome to join. Membership dues are $10 per year. Come on out.

Big Ern, The Weasel and "Honest" Dick: An inside view of Kentucky's worst

Note: Terry Boyd of Insider Louisville contributed to this report.

Ah, it’s spring, and the scent of corruption and generally poor governance is wafting gently on the breeze here in Louisville. (Certainly more entertaining than the tree pollen to follow.)

LEO’s Philip Bailey got the jump on the Courier-Journal last week with “It’s not easy being Green,” his story about Dr. Judy Green, 1st District metro councilwoman.

Green has, uhm, issues related to very poor judgment – everything from tax evasion to creating a bogus “jobs programs” with her “Green Clean Team.”

Last summer, the Green Clean Team program ground to a halt after the city auditor tried to figure out what happened to the $55,000 grant to fund the program. (Oddly, Dr. Judy and husband James Green owe $55,000 to the Internal Revenue Services, a bill going back to 1998. How does that work?)

The finding – shockingly, a lot of the money went to 12 Green family members “working” in the program. The rest apparently evaporated into the ether, and nothing was accomplished except getting other Metro Council members out of their overall stupor long enough to start ethics proceedings.

The CJ followed up with a story about how the president and treasurer for 100 Black Men confirmed that the group had a side deal with Judy Green to request more city funding than needed, then redirect a portion of the cash at Green’s direction.

Oh, and then there’s the matter of the $25,000 Dr. Judy and her husband ran up on the credit card of Judy Green’s legislative aide, Andrea Jackson, a credit card the councilwoman took out with out Jackson’s consent!

To their credit, CJ reporters did a great job in 2005 of covering Green’s habitual failure to pay taxes - just the trait you want in an elected government official - and much of Bailey’s reporting in “It’s Not Easy Being Green” is built on their work

You can bet there’s more.

Wednesday Update: Manipulation in Frankfort, absenteeism in Indianapolis, new Ford cars and a budget meeting

- I was in Frankfort yesterday for the David Williams/Rand Paul "Amend Our Beloved Constitution Love-Fest". Read all about it. [Insider Louisville]

- It's car show time in Louisville again, and this year Ford Motor Company is bringing some pre-production models to town. The annual Carl Casper’s Custom and Louisville New Car Auto Show starts Friday. [Business First]

- About 100 people came to the Southwest Government Center last night for Mayor Fischer's city budget meeting. Did you go? Tell me your thoughts.[CJ]

- Democrats in the Indiana House of Representatives have beaten the so-called "Right to Work" legislation. They may return to the state this week. Good work. Next: Wisconsin. [CJ]

Like it or not ... as unions go, so goes America

In light of the now-officially declared war on public and private sector unions and the accompanying anti-tax rhetoric, I'd like to repost an old tale that has been passed around for years among working people to remind them what happens when we lose focus.

As unions go, so goes America.

Remember that.

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised. All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry. In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union. If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FDIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression. Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe is home from work.

He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Good times, bad times: Valley High getting $26 mil. makeover

First, the good/great news: JCPS is going ahead with plans for a $26 million "upgrade" at Valley High School. You can read about the details HERE. Still undecided is the question of renovation versus new construction.

Tax dollars spent on projects like these not only benefit the students and the neighborhood, but also benefit local workers and local businesses that cater to them as the project moves along.

In Kentucky, there are prevailing wage laws and rules that allow for Project Labor Agreements (PLA's) which require contractors to use a certain percentage of local workers. That's important, as many of our skilled trades workers are laid off or "on the bench", as they say.

Which leads us to the bad news.

There is a movement underway to undermine any Project Labor Agreements that may come before the the Jefferson County Board of Education. In this case, intimidation is the chosen tactic. You can read all the sorry and sordid details of that mess by clicking HERE.

Here we are in 2011, still trying to convince people that employing local workers on local projects is a good business and economic policy. Unbelievably, there are those that still swear by the practice of using out-of-town workers while our own are drawing unemployment benefits. The main driver for that behavior is greed, and if greed wins, greed will ruin us all.

If you have a moment today, it wouldn't hurt to contact your school board representative and let them know you want the Valley High School project to move forward with a strong PLA that guarantees employment for Louisville workers.

End of week news - Keeping Dr. Berman, Ford in the money and the pledge is un-American

- The Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has joined the Louisville NAACP, Brent McKim and school board member Linda Duncan to support keeping JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman. That makes two groups and two people versus everyone else. No one expects the decision to remove Berman to be reversed. And I mean NO ONE. [CJ]

- The Pledge of Alleigance is/was a socialist plot developed by a Christian Socialist named Francis Bellamy. More on this later. [Camden County Tea Party Patriots]

- Ford Motor Co. will show an $8 billion profit for 2010. Eight Billion Dollars. Profit. And all without having hired one new, single, solitary worker at half the wages. That means they can afford the current wages and benefits of the employees and still make a ton of money. All they have to do is design good cars. Earth to UAW President Bob King: Wake up....you've been had!!  [Insider Louisville]

-What effect, if any, do you think the new Cracker Barrel will have on the locally owned restaurants like Jessie's in Southwest Louisville? After seeing the demise of Mr. Lou's, Wick's and The Pie Pantry, will this help or hurt? Or will people be too busy hogging at the trough to even notice?

Here's your midweek update

- The strategy of an entity going bankrupt in order to void a labor contract is a popular one these days, and the tactic is being used locally against the musicians in the Louisville Orchestra. A judge ruled today in favor of the musicians against the orchestra's board in a case where the musicians simply asked to be paid for their work. The board had obviously expected the musicians to play for free due to real or imagined financial problems, then threatened to file bankruptcy and void the negotiated agreement between the parties. The orchestra's board, sitting on a $10 million dollar endowment, is claiming they are broke and cannot afford to pay.  The contract between the orchestra and the musicians expires in May. [WFPL]

- In more positive news, a former stripper has been charged with arson and wanton endangerment after going bananas back in March. The woman, then working at Deja Vu in South Louisville, felt the other girls were stealing her customers and felt compelled to burn all of their dirty stripper-like stuff. [Herald-Leader]

- Shively's mayor and city council officially take the oath of office this Friday. [CJ]

Paul to U.S. workers: The war is on

Confirming our suspicions, Senator-elect Rand Paul has hired one of the most anti-union bastards in the country to be his Chief of Staff, thus having applied the "boot heel" to the throat of America's union workers.

Doug Stafford, former Vice President of the National Right to Work Committee, believes in absolute corporate tyranny - total freedom for businesses to do whatever they like while employees are fitted with leg irons and ball gags.

Stafford's ruthlessly conservative opinions are well documented. (See HERE - hat tip to Ville Voice)

Paul and Stafford are part of a group of millionaires that want to take away a worker's right to organize, lobby for better conditions and bargain collectively all while protecting the businesses right to join things like manufacturer associations that lobby for weaker safety laws and bargain collectively with other companies.

This move should come as no surprise to anyone that followed Paul and his insane campaign, but should be recognized as what it is: A slap in the face to American workers.

Yarmuth touts local jobs in new ads

And Now, A Word From Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-8)

Here is what Robert Kennedy had to say on Labor Day, 42 years ago:

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.


"It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.


"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

When Robert Kennedy said these words, the unemployment rate in America was 3.7%. Today, it is almost three times as high. Too many of our working brothers and sisters are out of work, thanks to over a decade of economic mismanagement. 10% of us are unemployed, and the other 90% work like dogs to try to avoid joining them. Which is just what the bosses want.

But it doesn't have to be that way. I look forward to a Labor Day where every worker has a job, every worker has a pension, every worker has paid vacations, and every worker has the health care to enjoy life. Our Republican opponents call that France. I call it America, an America that is Number One.

Not #1 in wasted military expenditures.

Not #1 in number of foreign countries occupied.

Number One in jobs. Number One in health. Number One in education. Number One in happiness.

As Robert Kennedy famously said, "I dream of things that never were, and ask 'why not?'" Why not? Let's make it happen.

And then all of us who are Americans, including the ones today who are jobless, homeless, sick and suffering, we all can then say, "I am proud to be an American."

Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-8)

Tuesday Update

- Mayoral candidates Greg & Hal will debate Wednesday at 12 noon in front of a meeting of the Louisville Forum. The debate will be broadcast at 8pm on 89.3 WFPL.  [WFPL]

- The calendar has been set for the 2011 Kentucky General Assembly's 30 day session. [lrc.ky.gov]

- The city has won its appeal on a FEMA disaster claim related to The Great Ice Storm Clean-Up Debacle of 2009. [Metro News]

- 8,000 people celebrated Labor Day at the Louisville Zoo. [WHAS11]

Which Side Are You On?

As we approach Labor Day 2010 in an America that is increasingly hostile to union workers, I felt it was appropriate to share this with you, my readers.  Earlier today I had the pleasure of viewing "Harlan County USA". If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. You can view it in its entirety at the end of this blog post.

From Wikipedia:

Harlan County, USA is a 1976 documentary film covering the efforts of 180 coal miners on strike against the Duke Power Company-owned Eastover Coal Company's Brookside Mine and Prep Plant in Harlan County, Kentucky in 1973. It was directed by Barbara Kopple, who has long been an advocate of workers' rights. Harlan County, U.S.A. is less ambivalent in its attitude toward unions than her later American Dream, the account of the Hormel Foods strike in Austin, Minnesota in 1985-86.

Kopple initially intended to make a film about Kenzie, Miners for Democracy and the attempt to unseat Tony Boyle. When miners at the Brookside Mine in Harlan County, Kentucky, struck in June 1972, Kopple went there to film the strike against Duke Power Company and UMWA's response. The strike proved a more interesting subject, so Kopple switched the focus of her film.

Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they find themselves in while striking for safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and decent wages: following them to picket in front of the stock exchange in New York, filming interviews with people affected by black lung disease, and even catching miners being shot at while striking.

The most significant point of disagreement in the Harlan County strike was the company's insistence on including a no-strike clause in the contract. The miners were concerned that accepting such a provision in the agreement would limit their influence over local working conditions. The sticking point was mooted when, a few years after this strike, the UMWA folded the agreement that was eventually won by this group of workers into a global contract.

Rather than using narration to tell the story, Kopple chose to let the words and actions of these people speak for themselves. For example, when the company goons show up early in the film — the strikers call them "gun thugs" — the goons try to keep their guns hidden from the camera. But as the strike drags on for nearly a year, both sides are more than willing to openly brandish their weapons.

Kopple also produces some interesting facts about the strike, such as the fact that Duke Power Company's profits increased more than 100 percent in a single year. Meanwhile, the striking miners, many of whom are living in squalid conditions without even the basics like running water, only received a 4% pay increase despite a 7% cost of living increase for that same year.

Another key element in this movie is the country and bluegrass music so central to the miners' lives. There are songs by Merle Travis, Hazel Dickens and Florence Reece, who makes a key appearance in the movie. Old as she is — she remembers when Harlan County was known as "Bloody Harlan" in the days of the Great Depression — Florence delivers a touching, throaty rendition of her most famous labor song, "Which Side Are You On?"

For those who may not understand the strike's importance, the specter of death always seems to loom large in this movie. A good case in point is the story of Joseph Yablonski, a passionate, populist union representative who was loved by many of the miners. Yablonski challenged W. A. Boyle for the presidency of the UMWA in 1969, but lost in an election widely viewed as corrupt. Later that year, Yablonski and his family were found murdered in their home. W.A. Boyle is shown early in the film in good health. Later he is seen frail, sickly and confined to a wheelchair, being carried up the courthouse steps to face a conviction for giving $20,000 to another union executive council member to hire the killers.

Almost a full year into the strike a striking miner named Lawrence Jones is fatally shot during a scuffle. Jones was well-liked, quite young and had a 16-year-old wife and a baby. His mother collapsed from grief at his funeral. This tragic moment more than anything else finally forces the strikers and the management to come to the bargaining table.

A central figure in the documentary is Lois Scott, a firebrand who plays a major role in galvanizing the community in support of the strike. Several times she is seen publicly chastising those she feels have been absent from the picket lines. In one scene, Scott pulls a pistol from her bra. Associate director Anne Lewis compares Scott to Women's Liberation activists in the film's 2004 Criterion Collection special feature The Making of Harlan County, USA.

Jerry Johnson, one of the striking Eastover miners, attributes the ultimate conclusion of the strike to the presence of Kopple and her film crew: "The cameras probably saved a bunch of shooting. I don’t think we’d have won it without the film crew. If the film crew hadn’t been sympathetic to our cause, we would’ve lost. Thank God for them; thank God they’re on our side."

In an age of corporate-owned media, manufactured consent and the ability of PR firms to convince people to vote against their own interests, this film reminds us of the power of collective action. What is good for workers is good for America.

We, as a community, need to decide. So, which side are you on?

Yarmuth to GM: Put U.S. First

Congressman John Yarmuth called on the current and incoming CEOs of General Motors to immediately reconsider opening new facilities in Mexico while that company remains indebted to American taxpayers.

“While the leadership of GM may believe such a decision makes economic sense and helps boost profit margins, it ignores the fact that your company would not exist today were it not for the support of American taxpayers,” wrote Congressman Yarmuth in a letter to GM. “Along with these dollars, GM should also have accepted a responsibility to put America’s economic recovery first, and not that of any other nation.”

Earlier this month, GM announced it would begin production of a new line of vehicles and engines at a plant in Coahuila, Mexico, generating 390 jobs south of the border.

In December of 2008, President George W. Bush announced GM was one of several American automakers that accepted federal aid, ultimately receiving nearly $50 billion in financial assistance.

“The automotive workforce is critical to the manufacturing base of the American economy,” wrote Congressman Yarmuth. “It is both an economic and moral imperative to the American people that these jobs are kept in the United States.”

Full text of the Congressman’s Letter to GM is HERE (PDF).