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LaborFest 2015: Chinese Workers and World Factory | SF

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Thursday, July 23, 2015 - 7:00 pm | Cost: FREE
ILWU Local 34 Hall | 801 2nd St., San Francisco, CA

Event Details

San Francisco 2021 LaborFest (July 1-31)

LaborFest is an annual festival celebrating the history and culture of working people through film, art, lectures, tours, and exhibits all over the Bay Area from July 1-31, 2021

LaborFest opens its 28th annual festival with a month of timely events inspired by local and international labor activists and labor history. The program schedule includes both international and local films and videos, a labor history walk and bike tour, lectures, forums, readings, theatrical and musical performances. Most events are free of charge but donations by the public will be accepted.

LaborFest is the premier labor cultural arts and film festival in the United States.  LaborFest recognizes the role of working people in the building of America and making it work even in this time of COVID-19.  The festival is self-funded with contributions from unions and other organizations that support and celebrate the contributions of working people.

LaborFest 2021
July 1-31, 2021

In Person Events Schedule

7/1 Thursday 7:00pm: Theatre play: “Hold These Truths”
Location: San Francisco Playhouse
Tickets $15-$100

7/3 Saturday 12pm: Labor History Bike Tour by Chris Carlsson
Meet at 518 Valencia, near 16th Street, in San Francisco, at 12noon
Donation requested

7/4 Sunday 10:00am: San Bruno Mountain Walk with David Schooley
Meet at 10:00 AM at the San Bruno Mountain Watch office (44 Visitacion Avenue, Suite 206, in Brisbane)
FREE

7/5 Monday 12:00pm: 1934 SF General Strike Walk and presentation with Gifford Hartman
Meet at the south column at Harry Bridges Plaza (across from the Ferry Building) in San Francisco
FREE

7/10 Saturday 2:00pm: Book reading: Mobilizing in OUR OWN NAME with Clarence Thomas
Location: ILWU 10 hall – 400 N. Point St., SF Henry Schmidt room
FREE

7/17 Saturday 10:00am: WPA Harvey Smith Berkeley Walk
Meet at the Main Berkeley Post Office – corner of Milvia & Alston
FREE

7/18 Sunday 7:00pm: Revolutionary Poets: Building Socialism, Fighting Fascism
Location: Specs Bar, 12 William Saroyan Place, San Francisco, CA
FREE

7/23 Friday 4:00pm: Concert “BlackRock, Stop Union Busting”
Location: 400 Howard St. at 1st Street
FREE

7/24 Saturday 12pm: Tom Mooney and Preparatory Day Bombing Walk
Meet at One Market Street in San Francisco
FREE

7/25 Sunday 10:00am: Labor Politics and Architecture of San Francisco – Walk with Brad Wiedmaier
Meet at ILWU Sculpture at Mission & Steuart in San Francisco
FREE

7/30 Friday 6:00pm: Eleventh Annual San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Awards Dinner
Location: San Jalisco Restaurant, 901 South Van Ness Avenue at 20th Street in San Francisco
$35 per ticket in advance or a group rate of $250 for eight tickets in advance

7/31 Saturday 12:00pm: Oakland General Strike Walk with Gifford Hartman
Meet at the fountain in Latham Square, at the intersection where Telegraph and Broadway converge, across from the Rotunda Building (Oakland City Center/12th St. BART)
FREE

7/31 Saturday 6pm: Labor Maritime History Boat Tour
3-hour boat tour of the Bay from Pier 41
$60

Chinese workers are the largest working-class in the world and 260 million of these workers are migrant workers from throughout the many regions of China. They play a central role in the world economy because China has become the central link in the “World Factory”.

Grass Stage is the production company that helped develop this play about the role of the migrant Chinese worker in this global production chain.

Playwright Zhao Chuan visited Manchester, England and from this visit developed the play reflecting the experience and lives of the Chinese workers who make the many products we use in the United States and throughout the world.

Joining Chuan to perform the segments of this play will be:
Wu Meng, theatre artist, freelance writer, founding member of Grass Stage.
Yu Kai, artist, freelance writer and teacher. Since 2006, she was the main creator and performer in many Grass Stage productions. Wu Jiamin, the main creator, performer and executive producer of “World Factory”.

There will also be musical performance by Xu Guojian, who is with the Beijing Migrant Workers Home. Head of New Worker’s Art Troupe and Chairman of Trade Union in Pi Village Community, Leader of Workers’ Museum, and Director of Spring Festival Gala for and by Migrant workers.
Also Dong Jun, leader of Zhongdiyin Cultural Center for Workers, initiator, leader, vocalist, and percussionist of Zhongdiyin Worker’s Band, will perform.

The lives and artistic expression of this new young working class is a growing development in China, and their songs tell the story of the lives and their struggles in the new China.

There will also be a presentation by Stanford lecturer
Hilton Obenzinger who is Associate Director, Stanford Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project about the building of the Transcontinental Railway on the 150th anniversary of its construction by the 50,000 Chinese workers who came to America to build it. These Chinese workers played an important and critical role in building America and also led the first and largest strike at that time in California history starting on June 25, 1867. We honor them for the work they did in building America.

http://web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/wordpress/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-strike/

For more information contact: (415) 642-8066
Sponsored by LaborFest

Parking space available at the union hall parking lot. The entrance is at the corner of King St. and 2nd, right next to the AT&T ball park.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE
Categories: **Annual Event**, Theater & Performance
Address: 801 2nd St., San Francisco, CA