With These Hands

"Alexander Brody" (Sam Levene) is about to sign on for his union-backed pension when his mind wanders back to a New York in 1910 when unions were few and far between - especially in the rag trade where he worked. Indeed, it might more accurately have been described as a slave trade as those working fourteen hour shifts, six days a week, had no rights, no holidays, no healthcare and worked entirely at the beck and call of bosses who could hire and fire at will. He's had enough and rebels when one of his colleagues is fined half a day's pay for breaking two needles on his sewing machine. They walk out and despite the concerns of his long-suffering wife "Jen" (Arlene Francis) they go on strike. Not just them, but tens of thousands of people walk out demanding better terms and conditions. After almost two months of deprivation - and with them even having their dining table repossessed, they win out and that is just the start of this potted history of a trade union movement in the city that showcases some quite literally hellish and downright dangerous working environments and the lengths that employers would go to stop their staff engaging with shop stewards. The theme is very much pro-union movement and though it does decry the communist attempts to steamroller them into causing the 1926 general strike, this is still as close to a piece of socialist cinema that I've certainly seen from 1950s America. It doesn't so much attack the corporate structure of the USA but illustrates more the benefits of collective bargaining and compulsory arbitration in settling disputes - all against a slightly rose-tinted background of benign activities like summer holiday "unity" camps; free healthcare that assists the likes of his friend "Deleo" (Joseph Wiseman) and, of course, his own entitlement to a pension that will ensure he and "Jen" keep their supplies of chicken soup going strong. It is terribly simplistic, but it's message is hard to ignore and I found it to be quite an enjoyable little chronology that clearly sets it stall out for all to appreciate.