Pittsfield - HONORING LABOR

In our current political climate, people are looking for answers - and alternatives. The promise of unions is that their 'members be unlimited': that they don't belong to the rich, the powerful, or special interests, but to all workers. How did the idea of unionism arise? Where has it flourished? And what are its challenges in the 21st century? From Britain to Bangladesh, from the first union of the 18th century to today, from solidarity in Walmart...

"Over the years the products of big tech companies and Silicon Valley have become indispensable to our lives. They impact the way we socialize, make purchases, and even our medical decisions. But what happens when a major segment of the population--in this case Black women--isn't included in these companies?"--

"In this spiky and hilarious 21st century reboot of the iconic film Taxi Driver, a ride share driver is barely holding it together on the hunt for love, dignity and a living wage . . . until she decides she's done waiting. Damani is tired. Her father just passed away and now she lives paycheck to paycheck in the basement of her parents' old house, caring for her mom, and driving for an app to (not even) pay the bills. Protests are all the rage--everybody's...

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chlo ̌Zhao, it features real nomads Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells as Fern's mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.

Work defines who we are. But are we hardwired to work as hard as we do? James Suzman charts a grand history of work, from the origins of life on Earth to our ever more automated present, challenging some of our deepest assumptions about who we are. He shows that while we have evolved to find joy, meaning, and purpose in work, for most of human history our ancestors worked far less and thought very differently about work than we do now. He demonstrates...

"America has broken its contract with its laboring class. So, how do we get back to the American Dream? How do we once again become the land of opportunity, the promised land where hard work and commitment to family are enough to protect you from poverty? It's not that hard actually. All it would take, as this book illustrates, is for those in power to once again respect the dignity of work-and the American worker"--

"Before, during, and after the US Civil War, Boston's Black workers were barred from the skilled trades, factory work, and public-works projects. In Boston, as in cities across the North, white abolitionists focused virtually all their energies on the plight of enslaved Black Southerners, while refusing to address the challenges faced by their Black neighbors. The author presents inspiring and heart-wrenching stories of people-from day laborers and...

"You're told that if you "do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Whether it's working for "exposure" and "experience," or enduring poor treatment in the name of "being part of the family," all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love. In Work Won't Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this "labor of love" myth -- the idea...

"This book documents the decline of white-working class lives over the last half-century and examines the social and economic forces that have slowly made these lives more difficult. Case and Deaton argue that market and political power in the United States have moved away from labor towards capital-as unions have weakened and politics have become more favorable to business, corporations have become more powerful. Consolidation in some American industries,...

"Americans are overworked. After declining for a century through hard-fought labor movement victories, average annual work hours increased approximately 8 percent for all working adults from 1979 to 2016. In Worked Over, sociologist Jamie McCallum reveals how the battle over time on the job has been central to conflicts over capitalism from the beginning, how overwork is at the heart of the inequities and injustices in America's economy today, and...