A small U.S. factory is shutting down. All of the workers are losing their jobs, and to add insult to injury, they have also lost their last two weeks of pay and retirement funds, which were raided over the years to pay stock dividends. On the final day of work, a pregnant employee, suddenly overtaken with labor pains, sits down on the job. Interpreting this as an act of defiance, The Boss calls security. The situation escalates and before anyone has a chance to think, the Workers have accidentally occupied the Factory!
During the negotiation process, The Boss tries intimidation, patriotism, and Red Scare tactics, while the Workers just try to figure out what the heck they're doing. Some say wreck the place. Tea Baggers say it's all the government's fault. Others blame the Union. One Worker, an Argentine ex-pat, says they should consider running the Factory themselves and is immediately labeled a Commie. At night, as the occupying Workers entertain themselves with songs and stories, the Argentine comes forward again and tells the tale of a similar strike back home. As more of the Argentine's story unfolds, the parallel plights of the American and Argentine Workers play out side by side. While the Americans struggle to keep their factory occupation from becoming politicized, the Argentine strike is deeply political. In the end, both the American and Argentine Workers are victorious, but which resolution will ultimately keep the power in the Workers' hands? |
Photographer: Fletcher Oakes
Pictured: (l-r) Lisa Hori-Garcia, Brian M. Rivera
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