WEI Screenings Take Philly

Coalition of Labor Union Women

Ellen Slack is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, which is partnering on the Philadelphia Women’s Empowerment Initiative Screening. She offered this report about an upcoming screening of Made in L.A..

Here in Philadelphia, the views in many neighborhoods are still dominated by old factory buildings that once housed our city’s garment and textile industries. The forces that emptied those buildings of the activities they were constructed for are essentially the same forces that in recent years have brought millions of Latinos—and others—to this country.

Manufacturers in search of cheap labor moved to other parts of the U.S. and then many send the work overseas. At the same time, globalization devastated local industries and destabilized economies in huge regions of the world, leaving their working people with little choice but to migrate to the U.S. and western Europe.

Made in L.A. is a story of women caught up in these processes, immigrant Latina garment workers in Los Angeles, but it also highlights other important issues facing women workers today. The film meshes really well with the concerns of the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), a national organization (with local chapters, including a very active one in Philadelphia) of women from many different unions. CLUW also actively networks with organizations working on women’s and social-justice issues, so we are especially pleased to be involved with the Women’s Empowerment Film Fest.

Arguably the greatest challenge to the labor movement now is organizing workers who may not speak English, could be fearful of organizing efforts because of their undocumented status, tend to change jobs frequently, and can be difficult for organizers to even gain access to.

The women we meet in Made in L.A. bravely decided that something had to be done about the exploitation and terrible working conditions of the sweatshop system they worked in. The film revolves around three of the workers, who become leaders in the struggle to secure better conditions and basic rights.

A great strength of the film is that because it covers a three-year period, we can really see the empowerment of these women. This is an important theme for women in the labor movement; many have come to activism and personal growth by way of organizing efforts and/or union membership. In this film the three women are presented as complex, multidimensional individuals—not just cogs in an international economic machine.

We see almost exclusively women in leadership roles in the film, both as organizers from the Garment Worker Center and the workers themselves, who actually shaped the campaign. The filmmaker, Almudena Carracedo, worked closely with the women whose struggle she was documenting. Progressive labor activists can appreciate this approach as we strive to include more rank-and-file voices and to minimize hierarchical, top-down communication.

Workers in the U.S. are increasingly female, people of color, and not U.S.-born. Made in L.A. is a valuable look at L.A.’s sweatshop manufacturing world, that’s usually closed to outsiders. For those not familiar with organized labor it powerfully shows why workers still need to organize. For those of us in the labor movement, it’s both a very useful case study and an inspiration.

Tags: coalition of labor union women, made in L.A., manufacturing, philadelphia, philly, WEI, womens empowerment