Local 1196: A Steelworkers Strike

Last year, 1,500 steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania went out on strike for four long months. If you don’t remember hearing about the strike, don’t worry, we hadn’t, either. It was against a company named ATI, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, and even though the strike involved 1,500 steelworkers at nine different locations, it never really made the radar on the national labor scene in a year that saw a huge increase in both strikes and union organizing.

So we’re very fortunate that Samuel George decided to embed himself and his camera in the strike by Local 1196. Sam is an exciting young documentary filmmaker who works for the Bertelsmann Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC. Samuel’s documentaries – which include "The Fields of Immokalee” -- bring viewers up close and personal to people and communities facing the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, offering candid perspectives that allow viewers to draw their own conclusions. His films focus on the intersection of politics, economics, social issues, and daily life. Filming on the ground from the Turkish – Syrian border, to the factories of Juarez, Mexico, to elections in West Virginia, and now a factory in Western Pennsylvania, Sam’s films seek to offer a voice to those affected by policy and macro trends, but who often are denied a seat at the table where decisions are made.

Local 1196: A Steelworkers Strike screens free this Saturday, March 19, at 4pm, at the MLK DC Public Library, 901 G St. NW in Washington, DC; CLICK HERE to RSVP.

Produced by Chris Garlock, edited and co-produced by Evan Papp, Empathy Media Lab.

@dclabor @LaborHeritage1 @DCLaborFilmFest @SamuelGeorge76 @BertelsmannFdn @empathymedialab @steelworkers Local 1196

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