A Century of Struggle

Jan 1, 1981

0h 40m

★ 0.0

Overview

A Century of Struggle chronicles the hundred-year history of the NZ Seamen’s Union from its formation in 1879. Using original film and archive footage, it examines the working lives of seamen and the battles fought by their union from the sailing ships of colonial days to the modern turbine-powered container vessels. Because the Seamen’s Union was frequently at the forefront of working-class struggle in New Zealand, its story involves most of the crucial issues and events in the history of the union movement generally, including the great maritime strikes of 1890 and 1913 and the waterfront dispute of 1951.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Vanguard Films

A Century of Struggle Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

Des Kelly

On the 5th of March 1985, a crowd gathered in a South Yorkshire pit village to watch a sight none of them had seen in a year. The villagers, many of them in tears, cheered and clapped as the men of Grimethorpe Colliery marched back to work accompanied by the village’s world-famous brass band. The miners and their families had endured months of hardship. It had all been for nothing. The miners had lost the strike called on March 6th 1984. They would lose a lot more in the years to come. But was it a good thing for the country that the miners lost their last battle?

5.7

The Flickering Flame

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Documentary following dockers of Liverpool sacked in a labour dispute and their supporters’ group, Women of the Waterfront, as they receive support from around the world and seek solidarity at the TUC conference.

0.0

The Miners' Strike and Me

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Documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the 1984 miners' strike, one of the bitterest industrial disputes in British history, with stories from both sides of the conflict.

7.5

Brothers on the Line

Mar 8, 2012

Brothers on the Line explores the extraordinary journey of the Reuther brothers – Walter, Roy, and Victor – union organizers whose unshakeable devotion led an army of workers into an epic human rights struggle.

0.0

A Vision in the Darkness

Jan 1, 1991

Through the eyes of a Quebec Jewish activist, Lea Roback, feminist, unionist, pacifist and communist, A VISION IN THE DARKNESS proposes a modernist vision of Quebec history, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the period knows as « La Grande Noirceur », the Great Darkness.

0.0

Strike! The Women Who Fought Back

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In their own words, this is the story of six women from the South Wales valleys and how they helped sustain the bitter year-long miners' strike, changing their lives forever.

7.0

Mémoires d'un condamné

Nov 1, 2017

No overview available.

7.5

Harlan County U.S.A.

Jan 23, 1977

This film documents the coal miners' strike against the Brookside Mine of the Eastover Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky in June, 1973. Eastover's refusal to sign a contract (when the miners joined with the United Mine Workers of America) led to the strike, which lasted more than a year and included violent battles between gun-toting company thugs/scabs and the picketing miners and their supportive women-folk. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with New York Women in Film & Television in 2004.

No Image Available

0.0

Northern Minnesota's Labor Wars

Jun 15, 2017

Filmmaker Gary Kaunonen of KCC-TV in International Falls just released a new documentary about a pivotal time in Northern Minnesota’s labor history. It’s called “Northern Minnesota’s Labor Wars.” The years 1916 and 1917 brought major labor uprisings in the mines of the Mesabi Iron Range and the lumber camps of the state’s far northern pine forests. These events not only shaped local history, but became vital turning points in the national and international labor movement.

5.0

Cocalero

Jan 22, 2007

A documentary centered on the union formed by Bolivian farmers in response to their government's (which was urged by the U.S.) effort eradicate coca crops, and the man who would come to represent them, Evo Morales.

7.3

American Dream

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When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are asked to take a substantial pay cut in a highly profitable year, the local labor union decides to go on strike and fight for a wage they believe is fair. But as the work stoppage drags on and the strikers face losing everything, friends become enemies, families are divided and the very future of this typical mid American town is threatened.

0.0

These were the reasons

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This film takes us into the harsh realm of BC's early coal mines, canneries, and lumber camps; where primitve conditions and speed-ups often cost lives. Then, the film moves through the unemployed' struggles of the '30s, post WWII equity campaigns, and into more recent public sector strikes over union rights.

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0.0

Mother Jones, America's Most Dangerous Woman

May 1, 2007

Documentary overview of the life and causes of "Mother" Jones.

8.0

Solidarnosc, la première brèche

Sep 16, 2020

No overview available.

No Image Available

0.0

Wisconsin Crisis: Why it matters to Alberta

Dec 2, 2011

An in-depth look at the early 2011 crisis for public sector unions in Wisconsin, and why it matters in Alberta.

0.0

For Twenty Cents A Day

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A film documenting work shortages during the Depression of the 1930s and the attempts to deal with the unemployed, in particular young men. The film discusses the establishment of relief camps and projects, where men were paid twenty cents per day; the founding of organizations such as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), Workers' Unity League, and Relief Camp Workers' Union; general unionization and protest of the unemployed, including the On To Ottawa Trek, Regina Riot, sit-in strike from May to June 1938 at the Vancouver Main Post Office, Vancouver Art Gallery and Hotel Georgia, and the resulting Bloody Sunday of June 19.

0.0

State of the Union

Apr 19, 2023

A documentary film showcasing the ascension of the state of Virginia from its rank of 51st worst state for labor unions, to 23rd, in a matter of just three years.

0.0

Strike! The Village That Fought Back

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The inside story of Polmaise Colliery and the miners who were the first to walk out and the last to go back to work during the miners' strike.

0.0

The Grievance Hearing

Jan 1, 1953

Presents a case history of a grievance case from the initial causes to the final settlement. Shows how grievance hearings enable labor unions and management to arrive at compromises in settling disputes.

No Image Available

0.0

The Road Taken

Sep 12, 1996

This 1996 documentary takes a nostalgic ride through history to present the experiences of Black sleeping-car porters who worked on Canada's railways from the early 1900s through the 1960s. There was a strong sense of pride among these men and they were well-respected by their community. Yet, harsh working conditions prevented them from being promoted to other railway jobs until finally, in 1955, porter Lee Williams took his fight to the union.

A Century of Struggle

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

A Century of Struggle Trailers