The School of LER is partnering with the Bertelsmann Foundation to show their Local 1196 documentary film, which takes you inside the 106-day steelworkers strike in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.

Watch the trailer for the film here.

Join us for FREE PIZZA fifteen minutes early (7:30 p.m.) outside the room!

“The old American dream just seems to be gone,” says Walt Hill, the contract coordinator for Local 1196 in the decaying steel town of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania.

In March of 2021, the steelworkers of USW 1196 in Brackenridge struck, citing unfair labor practices. Over the next four months, Local 1196 follows the steelworkers from late night conversations on the picket lines, to fiery debates at the union hall, to their living rooms. 

This film gives unique insight and access into the daily struggles of America’s blue-collar workers. The film embeds with leaders of a demographic widely stereotyped, sometimes taken for granted, sometimes ridiculed, but rarely given the chance to share their world, in their own words.

Local 1196 takes the viewer on the ground as days on strike turn to weeks, weeks turn to months, and union leaders realize they’re playing with a short stack, and against long odds.

The film is an Official Selection of the American Documentary Film Festival, the New Hope Film Festival, the Pittsburgh Independent Film festival, D.C. Labor Fest, and the Reel Work Labor Film Festival. 

Stay tuned after the film for a discussion featuring Samuel George, film director for the Bertelsmann Foundation.