A vital and necessary documentary about the value of fighting for worker’s rights in the harrowing world of capitalism.

Join us at the Rio Theatre on Tuesday, May 13 for a screening of the documentary, UNION, which will include a live Q&A with the star of the film, activist Chris Smalls, the organizer at the forefront of unionizing Amazon.

This event has been organized by the Social Justice Committee at West Vancouver Teachers' Association.

Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.

“A vital and urgent portrait of labor organizing and its enduring possibility at a time when the fight for workers’ rights has never seemed more one-sided." (Indiewire)

“Sober and heartfelt, 'Union' lets us see what Amazon and the world would soon discover about the power workers have when they invest in their dignity first.” (Los Angeles Times)

“The film captures both the pain and the power of people at the base of a global infrastructure.” (RogerEbert.com)

“It would be easy to build a halo-lit documentary portrait around this handsome, rabble-rousing father of three, but Brett Story and Stephen Maing’s excellent “Union” is something more finely shaded and community-minded than that.” (Variety)

Winner of the 2024 Sundance Documentary Special Jury Award for The Art of Change

Tuesday, May 13
Doors 5:30 pm | Movie 6:00 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

UNION (Stephen Maing, Brett Story / 2024 / NR) A group of current and former Amazon workers in New York City's Staten Island challenges one of the world's largest companies in a unionization battle.