Elana Levin

You got 14 minutes to break out the popcorn, there’s an important new HBO documentary airing tonight at 9 pm est. It’s called “Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags.” The documentary tells the history of New York’s garment workers, their unions, the fashion industry and how these jobs made the American Dream possible for countless immigrant workers. (Watch the trailer here)

Across town from the UNITE HERE convention where motions to end the inter-union fight between Workers United and their union were shouted down, Workers United members were celebrating a monumental victory for workers who stood up to one of the biggest banks in the country an won.

One of the other folks at Workers United
On today May 1, huge demonstrations for immigrants’ rights will take place in Chicago and other cities. May 1 is an especially appropriate occasion for these demonstrations because it is May Day, International Labor Day.

May Day began in Chicago – in the fight not only for the eight-hour day, but also for immigrants’ rights.

On May 1, 1886, workers throughout the United States engaged in a massive strike to demand the eight-hour day. Chicago was the strike’s center. At that time, Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world. Chicago’s factories were being filled not only by young people being driven off the farms of the U.S. Midwest, but also by workers from England, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Bohemia, Sweden and many other countries.