Category: Videos

Moving images created by news organizations, unions, activists, and researchers

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On Any Day (1995)

The Tourism Industry Development Board (later known as the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, or LAANE) takes visiting journalists on a tour of four Los Angeles working class neighborhoods. LAANE’s partnership with HERE Local 11 aimed to change the public perception of Los Angeles and highlight the lives of tourism industry workers.

McDONNELL, PATRICK J. “Cultural Mystery Tour Visitors: Bus Trip to L.A.’s Eastside Kicks off a Series That Will Showcase the City’s Often-Overlooked Multiethnic Attractions and Counter Negative Media Images. Koreatown, South-Central Are among Future Destinations.: [Home Edition].” Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext); Los Angeles, Calif., July 7, 1994, sec. Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk. http://search.proquest.com/latimes/docview/282359935/abstract/D7B4B159EE014446PQ/1.
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Justice for Janitors 1995 Strike News

English and Spanish TV news coverage of street actions leading up to the 1995 strike by SEIU Local 1877, the Justice for Janitors campaign. Featured speakers include Mike Garcia, Rocio Saenz, and Jono Shaffer. Differences in style and presentation between English and Spanish-language reports suggest parallel public views of unions, inequality, and immigration.

The original video tape and others are available to researchers at the UCLA Library Department of Special Collections:

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Pueblo, Unete! Vigil, March, and Mass for Immigrant Rights (1993)

In the fall of 1993, conservative political operatives began circulating plans for an anti-immigrant California ballot proposition, what would become Proposition 187. Advocates of immigrant- and worker-rights raised alarms immediately, and mounted a vigorous opposition campaign. Voters approved Prop. 187 in 1994, but it was struck down by a federal judge. The fight against the anti-immigrant law helped propel a new progressive political coalition in California. This short film documents a vigil, march, and mass held in October 1993 in the name of Father Luis Olivares, the first to declare sanctuary for Central American refugees. It features the actor Martin Sheen and Maria Elena Durazo, president of HERE Local 11.

García, Mario T. Father Luis Olivares, a Biography: Faith Politics and the Origins of the Sanctuary Movement in Los Angeles. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469643335_garcia.
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City on the Edge

Release shortly after the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles, City on the Edge criticized the low-wage policies of the tourism industry and challenged political leaders to embrace equitable development. Featuring interviews with historian Mike Davis, business leaders, city officials, and workers, the film offers a glimpse of LA contending with deep social and economic divides.

This video and others are available to researchers at the UCLA Library Department of Special Collections:

Clifford, Frank. “Union’s Video Warns Tourists L.A. Isn’t Safe: [Home Edition].” Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext), June 23, 1992, sec. PART-A; Metro Desk. http://search.proquest.com/latimes/docview/281584784/abstract/989FFE151CDE4277PQ/2.
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Police disrupt janitors march on Century City, June 1990

During a 1990 strike against cleaning contractors in the Century City office complex, Los Angeles police confront and beat janitors and their supporters. The confrontation led to a city inquiry into police officers’ actions, and a settlement between janitors and their employers. This video compilation was produced by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and shared with other locals on VCR tapes before being converted to digital and distributed via YouTube.

Baker, Bob. “Police Use Force to Block Strike March Labor: About Two Dozen Demonstrators Are Injured during Protest by Janitors in Century City.: [Home Edition].” Los Angeles Times (Pre-1997 Fulltext), June 16, 1990, sec. Metro; PART-B; Metro Desk. http://search.proquest.com/latimes/docview/281089965/CBC4CFD8B6684D0BPQ/14?accountid=14512.