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Reel Solidarity: Celebrate Labor Day With These Great Films

Brian Pearson
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Labor Films to Watch This Labor Day Weekend

If you find yourself at home this Labor Day weekend, we’ve got a great lineup of labor films to check out.

These aren’t just movies about workers. Many are great films in their own right, with powerful acting, direction and storytelling. And thanks to today’s on-demand and streaming services, many are just a few clicks away.

Whether you’re looking for a history lesson, a comedy, a great drama or a documentary about workers taking on the boss, there’s something here for you.

Free to Watch

Availability can vary by location and library. Kanopy and Hoopla generally require a participating library.

  • The Killing Floor (1984) – A powerful dramatization of the 1919 labor struggles in Chicago’s stockyards, following a Black meatpacker caught up in the city’s explosive labor and racial conflicts. Free on Kanopy and Hoopla.
  • The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) – A classic comedy about a wealthy department-store owner who goes undercover as a clerk and discovers that his employees may be more organized—and more united—than he expected. Free on Plex.
  • The Wobblies (1979) – A landmark documentary about the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), featuring interviews with former Wobblies and a firsthand look at the radical labor movement of the early 20th century. Free on Kanopy and Hoopla.
  • Silkwood (1983) – Meryl Streep stars as Karen Silkwood, a worker at a plutonium plant whose efforts to expose dangerous working conditions put her life at risk. Free on Hoopla.
  • Salt of the Earth (1954) – A groundbreaking film based on a real-life strike by Mexican-American zinc miners in New Mexico. Made by blacklisted filmmakers and featuring many nonprofessional actors, it remains one of the most remarkable labor films ever made. Free on Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex and Kanopy.
  • 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) – This television film tells the story of A. Philip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black-led union to receive a charter from the American Federation of Labor. Available free on YouTube.
  • Native Land (1942) – Narrated by Paul Robeson, this documentary-drama examines labor rights, racial violence and political repression in the United States. Free on the Internet Archive.
  • In Dubious Battle (2016) – James Franco directs and stars in this adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel about migrant fruit pickers organizing against exploitative working conditions in Depression-era California. Available on VIX, Amazon Prime Video with ads and Fawesome.
  • At the River I Stand (1993) – A compelling documentary about the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final campaign for economic justice. Free on Kanopy.
  • Pride (2014) – During the 1984 British miners’ strike, a group of LGBTQ activists decides to support striking Welsh miners, creating an unlikely alliance that changes both movements. Free on Kanopy and Hoopla.
  • Made in Dagenham (2010) – A dramatization of the 1968 strike by women sewing machinists at Ford’s Dagenham plant in Britain, whose fight for equal pay helped change the country’s labor laws. Free with ads on The Roku Channel.
  • The Valley of Decision (1945) – Greer Garson and Gregory Peck star in this Pittsburgh-set drama about a wealthy steel family, a working-class family and a bitter strike at the mill. Free on Hoopla; also available on TCM.

Streaming With a Subscription

  • American Factory (2019) – The Academy Award-winning documentary follows workers at a former General Motors plant in Ohio after it is reopened by a Chinese company, exploring the collision of cultures, expectations and workplace traditions. Streaming on Netflix.
  • Newsies (1992) – Disney’s musical take on the 1899 New York newsboys’ strike. Yes, it’s a kids’ movie. It’s also a movie about workers organizing and standing up to powerful interests. Streaming on Disney+.
  • Harlan County, USA (1976) – Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary follows a coal miners’ strike in Kentucky and puts viewers directly in the middle of the danger, solidarity and determination of a union fight. Streaming on Max.
  • The Organizer (1963) – Marcello Mastroianni stars as a professor who travels to Turin and helps textile workers organize a strike. An Italian classic about solidarity, strategy and the challenges of building a movement. Available on the Criterion Channel.
  • 9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019) – The documentary companion to 9 to 5 tells the real story of women clerical workers who organized for better pay, workplace protections and dignity on the job. Stream with PBS Passport.
  • Union (2024) – One of the most timely films on this list. This documentary follows the Amazon Labor Union’s campaign to organize workers at the company’s massive Staten Island warehouse. Available on the Criterion Channel and through PBS’s POV.
  • 9 to 5 (1980) – Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton team up as three office workers who decide they’ve had enough of their sexist, exploitative boss. A workplace comedy that became a cultural touchstone—and whose title became synonymous with the working day. Streaming on Netflix.
  • Hoffa (1992) – Jack Nicholson stars as Jimmy Hoffa in this Martin Scorsese-produced drama about the rise and controversial career of the legendary Teamsters leader. Streaming on Disney+.

Rent or Buy

  • How Green Was My Valley (1941) – John Ford’s Oscar-winning drama follows a Welsh coal-mining family as industrial conflict and changing economic conditions transform their community. Available to rent or buy digitally.
  • Matewan (1987) – John Sayles’ acclaimed film dramatizes the 1920 Battle of Matewan, part of the West Virginia Mine Wars, as coal miners attempt to organize in the face of company power and violence. Available to rent digitally.

Not Currently Streaming

Some great labor films are, unfortunately, harder to find right now. Keep an eye out for these:

  • American Dream (1990) – Barbara Kopple’s documentary about a bitter meatpacking strike in Minnesota that pitted workers against their employer and divided the community.
  • Norma Rae (1979) – Sally Field won an Oscar for her performance as a Southern textile worker who becomes a union organizer and fights to organize her workplace.
  • Bread and Roses (2000) – Ken Loach’s drama follows immigrant janitors in Los Angeles as they organize around the Justice for Janitors campaign. Not currently available to stream in the United States.
  • Brothers on the Line (2012) – A documentary about Walter, Victor and Roy Reuther and their role in building the United Auto Workers.

Why These Films Matter

From comedies like 9 to 5 to powerful documentaries like Harlan County, USA and American Factory, labor films remind us that the struggles of working people are also stories of resilience, justice and dignity.

They show workers standing together on picket lines, fighting for safer workplaces, demanding equal treatment and building solidarity across racial, economic and social lines. They also remind us that many of the rights we take for granted today were won by people who were willing to organize and fight for them.

This Labor Day, whether you’re looking for a laugh, a history lesson or a moving drama, these films offer a window into the lives and struggles of working people across generations.

So grab some popcorn, settle in and celebrate Labor Day with a labor film.