People have the power ; building the Union in San Francisco

The majority of the tapes in the collection date to the late 1980's and 1990's, with a small number of tapes covering the 1950's, 60's, and 70's and a substantial number from the early 2000's. Productions vary from public service announcements, television news reports, convention tapes, Senate hearings, and commercial productions, about, for, and against HERE and the labor movement.

Key players represented include General President Edward Hanley, General President John Wilhelm, Executive Director Ron Richardson, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and Local 226 and 165 of Las Vegas.



There are two overall themes in the collection:

1. HERE conventions and Executive Board meetings, along with the various films that are shown to the delegates.

2. The organizing campaigns, struggles, and victories of the union in Las Vegas and the west coast, in particular the Frontier Hotel and Casino strike.

The collection include a series of anti-union and union busting films about tactics and tools they employ to either defeat a union in the election process or decertify it. Tapes also document tactics and techniques that organizers employ to recruit new members, to engage existing members, and to build support for the goals of the particular campaign. In addition, tapes examine a connection between HERE and organized crime.

There are also music videos made by workers for the union including songs of union solidarity, films about arrest procedures and best practices for a non-violet sit in, commercial productions about how union members have helped children of other countries live better, in particular those in Mexico. There are also introductory videos and presentations about other unions including the Sheet Metal Workers International Allegiance (SMWIA), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).