International Working Class Film and Video Festival (Night 6)

International Working Class Film and Video Festival (Night 6)
July 22 (Thursday) 7:00 p.m. $5
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission St. (near 25th St.), San Francisco
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"A Job to Win"
A film by Shiri Wilk and Video48, 2003 (56 minutes) Israel
This film exposes the introduction of construction workers from Rumania, Poland, and China into Israel in order to replace Palestinians and documents the increasing exploitation of all the workers by their employers.
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"Friend or Foe"
A film by Jiyoung Lee, 2003 (90 minutes) Korea
The bitter struggle of contracted workers at KT (Korean Telecommunication) against globalization is shown in the film "Friend or Foe." Under the imperatives of structural adjustment, KT forced workers to work under "non-regular" contracts with lower pay, higher job insecurity, and more limited legal protection than regularly employed workers. When the company announced its new, so-called downsizing plan in 2000, KT fired 7,000 contract workers. The targeted workers launched a new union and waged a bitter struggle. After 517 consecutive days the union lost, in the face of police oppression and betrayal by regularly employed workers. "Friend or Foe" exposes the serious situation imposed by globalization on workers who are compelled to accept temporary status, and it provides critical analysis of the weaknesses of the current labor movement. Director Jiyoung Lee's work includes "On the Right Track" (2002), her film about rail workers struggling for a democratic union, which won the Best Documentary award at the Pusan International Film Festival.
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LaborFest 2004 is a month of film, music, poetry, theater, talks, tours, and other events celebrating labor, our history and future. Held every July since 1994, LaborFest commemorates San Francisco's 1934 General Strike. For a complete schedule, visit http://www.laborfest.net