The Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education is very pleased to present Bread and Roses (2000) as the next film in the FilmSocial series of socialist film screenings. This edition of FilmSocial is extra special as we celebrate with a May Day party following the film!

In Los Angeles, Mexican immigrant Maya (Pilar Padilla) finds work as a janitor through her sister, Rosa (Elpidia Carrillo). However, conditions at their non-union cleaning company are grim. After experiencing management abuse directed at herself and her fellow workers, Maya is convinced by union organizer Sam Shapiro (Adrien Brody), to get involved in the campaign for safe working conditions, higher wages, and dignity at her workplace. What follows leads to tension and confrontation, not only between workers and the company, but between Maya and her own family.

Directed by well know socialist filmmaker, Ken Loach, Bread and Roses is based on the real-life Justice for Janitors campaign, organized by the Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU). The campaign was a pivotal moment in the fight for improved working conditions for some of the most precarious workers in the United States and Canada. As portrayed in the film, the campaign went beyond traditional business union methods, utilizing militant direct actions and deep community-based organizing in order to win workers’ demands.