For anyone who might need a little reminder of what types of battles unions fought to bring us things like a 40-hour work week, no child labor, vacation days, decent wages, and not basically being slaves living in company housing owned by the corporations that employed them -- watch this movie if you get a chance. I watched this film years ago and sadly this history is not taught in our classrooms in the United States of America.
It's a fictional depiction of what went on during the labor unrest in West Virginia in the 1920s, but it's based on a real events and a reminder of just how violent things ended up being in West Virginia and across the country before working people in the United States finally were able to gain a lot of the rights that way too many of us take for granted right now. When you forget what it took to get so many of the rights we have in the first place, sadly it's way too easy to give them back again without a fight. That's what the politicians, Fox "News" and these astroturf teabaggers who are attacking unions as evil, greedy thugs are all counting on.
From IMDb: Matewan (1987):
Mingo County, West Virginia, 1920. Coal miners, struggling to form a union, are up against company operators and gun thugs; Black and Italian miners, brought in by the company to break the strike, are caught between the two forces. Union activist and ex-Wobbly Joe Kenehan, sent to help organize the union, determines to bring the local, Black, and Italian groups together.
Matewan (1987) - The Union
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Shootout in Matewan, West Virginia, May 19, 1920
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And here's more from one of Amazon's reviews on the film:
A little-known chapter of American labor history is brought vividly to life in this period drama from writer-director John Sayles. It's a fictional story about labor wars among West Virginia coal miners during the 1920's, but every detail is so right that the film has the unmistakable ring of truth. The tension begins when the Stone Mountain Coal Company of Matewan, West Virginia, announces a lower pay rate for miners, who respond by calling a strike under the leadership of a United Mine Workers representative (Chris Cooper). Proving strength in numbers, the miners are joined by black and Italian miners who initially resist the strike, and a fateful battle ensues when detectives hired by the coal company attempt to evict miners from company housing. Violence erupts in a sequence of astonishing, cathartic intensity, and Matewan achieves a rare degree of moral complexity combined with gut-wrenching tragedy. The film salutes a pacifist ideal while recognizing that personal and political convictions often must be defended with violence. To illustrate this point, Sayles enlisted master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who creates the film's authentic visual texture--a triumph of artistry over limited resources. The result is a milestone of independent filmmaking, and Matewan remains one of Sayles's finest achievements. --Jeff Shannon
