Film: Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth  is a powerful film from 1954.  Here is a quick snyopsis of it: At New Mexico's Empire Zinc mine, Mexican-American workers protest the unsafe work conditions and unequal wages compared to their Anglo counterparts. Ramon Quintero helps organize the strike, but he is shown to be a hypocrite by treating his pregnant wife, Esperanza, with a similar unfairness. When an injunction stops the men from protesting, however, the gender roles are reversed, and women find themselves on the picket lines while the men stay at home!

Made over six decades ago by blacklisted film workers, Salt of the Earth was the "first feature film ever made in the US of labor, by labor, and for labor".  More than that, it was "a film that does not tolerate minorities but celebrates their greatness". 

The film was commissioned by the International Union of Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers, which merged with the United Steelworkers in the 1960s.