Laborfest 2013

LaborFest is an annual festival celebrating the history and culture of working people through film, art, lectures, and exhibits all over the Bay Area from July 2-31, 2013.

The festival commemorates the anniversary of 1934’s “Bloody Thursday” when two workers, Howard Sperry and Nick Bordoise, were shot and killed in San Francisco for supporting the longshoremen and maritime workers strike. The incident brought about the San Francisco General Strike which shut down the entire city and led to hundreds of thousands of workers joining the trade union movement.

LaborFest
July 2-31, 2013
All over San Francisco
Most events FREE

>> See entire 2013 event schedule

2013 Highlights

July 13 (Saturday) 9:45 AM (Free) Meet at Coit Tower entrance, SF
Coit Tower Mural Walk
With Peter O’Driscoll, Harvey Smith
Seventy-nine years ago this month, artists who were working under Civil Works Administration and the Public Works of Art Project program were painting the Coit Tower murals. These political artists were very much influenced by the General Strike, and this is reflected in these historic murals.

July 14 (Sunday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet at Harry Bridges Plaza Tower – Embarcadero at Market St., front of the Ferry Building
SF General Strike Walk
Meet at Harry Bridges Plaza – Front of Ferry Building, at the south side tower, San Francisco.
Join a walk with retired ILWU longshoreman Jack Heyman, Herb Mills, Howard Keylor, Louis Prisco and others.
We will look at the causes of the 1934 General Strike and why it was successful. How was the strike organized and why are the issues in that strike still relevant to working people today? We will also view some of the key historical sites in this important US labor struggle. Be prepared for a long walk, slow pace and no hills.

July 20 (Saturday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet at 75 Folsom St. – Entrance of Hills Brothers Coffee Building, SF
San Francisco Waterfront Labor History Walk
With Lawrence Shoup and Peter O’Driscoll
There are many stories to be told about labor struggles in San Francisco. This story is about the maritime industry from 1835 until the burning of the blue book in 1934.
Also, labor historian Larry Shoup will talk about the history of the 1901 transportation workers strike, which included the Teamsters, and was smashed by the San Francisco police. This strike, in part, led to the formation of the San Francisco Union Labor Party, which in 1905, swept the election and took control of the city.

July 25 (Thursday) 4:00 – 6:00 PM (Free) J.Paul Leonard Library, 4th floor, SFSU – 1630 Holloway, SF
Marching Through History with Cesar Chaez and the Farm Workers
Photos by Cathy Murphy
Sponsored by the Labor Archives and Research Center, Marching Through History with Cesar Chavez and the Farm Workers is a powerful exhibit that captures life in the fields and on the line for Cesar Chavez and members of the United Farm Workers (UFW). Photographer Cathy Murphy was also very close to Chavez, and her intimate images offer a human portrait of this iconic hero. Come visit the new home of the Labor Archives for a tour of this moving exhibit.

July 26 (Friday) 1:00 – 3:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 34 Hall – 801 2nd St. next to AT&T Stadium (Please note, this is a new location)
LaborFest 2013 Art Show – Opening Day
This year’s LaborFest Art exhibition covers the struggle of workers not only in the Bay Area, but also globally, including garment workers and the struggle to defend their lives and health and safety. Whether the struggle for health and safety over 100 years ago in the Triangle Fire in New York or today at our workplaces, art is a powerful vehicle to show the lives, contradictions and struggle for justice, labor and human rights in our society.