Labor in the Mountains

A 55-minute documentary film exploring over a century of Mountain State worker struggles, collective bargaining, and union solidarity.

Introduced by the grandfather as he attempts to explain what labor unions are and how they came into being in West Virginia. This part begins with the role of union workers in support of the formation of the state during the Civil War, chronicles the Great Uprising and General Strike in 1877, and steps into the gritty story of coal miners and their struggles for justice and fair treatment in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the rise of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). It then shifts to the challenges faced by workers in other core industries in the state, including glass, steel, and chemicals, as they also organized for safer jobs and livable wages.

Features interviews from a range of active labor leaders who comment on how organized labor essentially built the middle class in West Virginia through organizing and collective bargaining in coal, steel, and basic heavy industries. Leaders discuss how workers achieved both economic and political power through their unions. With the arrival of deindustrialization and the considerable loss of industrial jobs in West Virginia, organized labor has shifted much of its base into service-providing jobs and into the public sector at state and local government levels. The interviewed leaders discuss these trends and conclude with commentary on the challenges facing Mountain State working families in the immediate future.