A GARLAND FOR MAY DAY
Walter Crane,
1895
Walter Crane’s May Day garland is comprised of the major
demands of the British labor movement at the turn of the 20th
century, including shorter workdays, child labor regulations, and
equitable distribution of wealth. “May Day” refers to International
Worker’s Day, and the garland motif has been adopted and
repurposed through the decades to promote worker’s rights, pay
tribute to the global workforce, and encourage solidarity within
the labor movement.
WE CAN DO IT!
J. Howard Miller,
Westinghouse Corporation
1942
J. Howard Miller’s iconic WWII imagery encouraged
America’s women to be strong and work hard for their country as
the war depleted the historically male workforce. The original
poster was intended to boost morale among the women working
at the Westinghouse Company during the war. The image gained
its iconic status in the 1980’s, when it was rediscovered and
“Rosie” was adapted to suit the purposes of more contemporary
organizing movements.
KNOCK HIM OUT!
Bill Seaman
National Labor Service
CIO Committee to Abolish Racial Discrimination
1945
The CIO was one of the first major labor organizations (after
the IWW) to take on racial discrimination. Bill Seaman’s “Knock
Him Out!” identifies management as the main perpetrators of
workplace racism, and organized labor as a dominant force with
the power to eradicate racial discrimination.
The IWW, CIO, and other unions that focused on fighting
workplace racism argued that, by giving employers a tool for
dividing the workforce and prevent collective action, racism
harms all workers.
Bill Seaman produced multiple anti-racism posters during
the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60’s, both directly and indirectly in support
of the Civil Rights movement.
THE BACKBONE OF AMERICA
J.V. Hudak
American Federation of Labor
1948
Hudak’s striking “Union Label” posters urged Americans to
support the economy and our workforce by purchasing
American-Union made products and using union services – a
message that still rings clear and true more than 50 years later.
WOMEN’S WORK
Artist Unknown
UAW Women’s Department
1950
In this UAW poster, a post-war aesthetic highlights the value
of women’s work, both at home and in the workplace. Similar
posters from the same period focus on women’s traditional
contributions to society, urging women to demand equal pay for
equal work and wages for traditionally unpaid domestic work.
BOYCOTT GRAPES
Xavier Viramontes
1973
After more than a decade of an ongoing struggle to gain fair
treatment for farm workers on California’s vineyards, the United
Farm
Workers
Union
embraced
short-lived
success
in
representing the predominantly Filipino workforce until grape
growers declined to renew their contracts with the UFW in 1973.
Instead, the growers signed their worker’s representation over to
the Teamsters. The UFW responded by staging protests, strikes,
and table-grape boycotts.
Viramontes’s stunningly powerful Aztec figure crushes
fistfuls of purple and green grapes; the grape juice seeping
through his fingers is a symbol of the blood shed by farm laborers
and organizers in the endless fight for farm worker’s rights.
Countless posters and flyers were produced throughout the
California Grape Boycotts, but Xavier Viramontes’s “Boycott
Grapes” is a striking illustration of the racial discrimination that
was inherent in the exploitation of the vineyards’ migrant workers.
JOE HILL
Carlos Cortez
Industrial Workers of the World
1973
This lino-cut of Joe Hill – the legendary protest singer and
organizer – is one of Carlos Cortez’s most famous works of art,
and the image lives on in numerous adaptations of the original.
Hill is remembered fondly in the labor movement for his
labor songs, poetry, and determination to organize the working
class. He’s shown here holding his accordion in one hand, and a
statement about the power of the working class in the other.
Joe Hill was framed for murder and executed by a firing
squad in Salt Lake City. His famous last words:
“Don’t Mourn. Organize.”
BREAD AND ROSES
Paul Davis
National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees
1978
In 1912, Massachusetts mill workers went on strike, a
landmark historical event that was to become known as the Bread
and Roses Strike of 1912.
The Bread and Roses Cultural Project was started in 1979 in
an effort to display and commemorate the real-life hardships of
working-class lives.
Davis’ painting of a union member draws on the long history
of the “Bread and Roses” concept within the labor movement.
The image addresses a core tenet of the labor movement – that
America’s workers don’t just deserve to be able to survive - “the
bread” – but we also deserve some of “the roses” that life has to
offer.
SUN MAD RAISINS
Ester Hernandez
1982
A garish smiling skull replaces the traditional rosy-cheeked
Sun-Maid Raisins girl presenting a bountiful harvest of green
grapes in Hernandez’s parody of the famous logo. The image is
intended to highlight the dangers involved in producing, as well as
consuming, foods
like Sun-Made
Raisins that are
grown with little
regard to
environmental
pollution or
toxicity to
workers and
consumers.
THE RAT
Artist Unknown
1980’s
The rat has long been a symbol used to represent scabs and
strikebreakers – workers who cross picket lines and sabotage
strikes. The iconic rat silhouette image shown here has been
modified and used by striking workers nationwide. Sadly, when it
comes to this outstanding example of labor art, the exact origins
are unknown. The rat metaphor has been so strongly embraced
by striking workers that many unions have reinvented the
recognizable imagery. A giant, scab-ridden inflatable rat,
scathingly referred to as “Scabby” has been a popular picket line
prop since the early 1980’s.
BOYCOTT CAMPBELL’S
Artist Unknown
FLOC Support Group
1984
In 1978, exploited Campbell’s farm workers walked off their
jobs in a strike that would last 8 long years. Taking a cue from
pop art icon Andy Warhol, this 1984 poster took advantage of
the recognizable imagery associated with Warhol’s original “Soup
Can” screen prints and the ubiquitous Campbell’s Soup label
itself.
These renewed
efforts to publicize
Campbell’s worker’s
plight led to a
collective bargaining
agreement between
Campbell’s and the
Farm Labor
Organizing
Committee in 1986.
SO FEW OF HIM, SO MANY OF US
Carlos Cortez
Industrial Workers of the World
1985
Carlos Cortez’ 1985 depiction of a “Fat Cat Boss” illustrates
the necessity for collective representation. When the boss is
hoarding all the milk, workers have to join forces to stand up to
unfair employer practices. AFSCME Council 5 respectfully
adopted the “Fat Cat Boss” imagery for our 2012 “Tax the Rich”
campaign.
UNITE!
Paul Davis
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees
1995
One of the most prolific and well-known artists of the labor
movement, Paul Davis created this stunning piece in honor of
UNITE’s founding convention in 1995. Like many posters of this
period, the image is a reflection of the diverse group that makes
up the membership of UNITE.
While the UNITE! poster was designed specifically in
commemoration of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and
Textile Employees convention, the imagery is timeless.
Davis’s skillful depiction of a united multicultural workforce
solidifies this poster as a striking portrayal of the global labor
movement, and the poster has gained iconic status because of its
universal relevance.
LABOR MOVEMENT!
Ricardo Levins-Morales
Northland Poster Collective
1997
Ricardo
Levins-Morales
brought
the
myriad
accomplishments of the labor movement to life in this poster.
Highlighting achievements that are often taken for granted by
contemporary workers, such as child labor laws; health benefits;
unemployment insurance; sick leave; and the weekend, this
poster is one of a multitude of images by various artists that
remind the global workforce how much progress we’ve made in
recent history.
The Frederick Douglass quote at the bottom of the poster
reminds us of the importance of collective action:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand.
It never did and it never will.”
WHAT DOES LABOR WANT?
Ricardo Levins-Morales
Northland Poster Collective
2000
Ricardo Levins-Morales is a prolific Minnesota-based artist
whose work addresses a broad range of social justice and human
rights issues.
Levins-Morales has contributed countless posters to the
labor movement. In this image, the bright sun shines down and
embraces a happy, diverse community. The people of the
neighborhood have joined hands in celebration, and below this
vignette is a poignant quote from Samuel Gompers, outlining the
need for individuals and families to work together to develop
community infrastructure that promotes peace, opportunity, and
dignity for all.