The dialog with Bacon will be Monday, May 14, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 216 of the Minneapolis Labor Center, 312 Central Ave. S.E.

Bacon, a California-based journalist who documents the lives and realities of immigrant workers will speak about immigration reform, strategies for organizing and ways to build solidarity across lines of difference. All members of the community are invited to participate in this open discussion.

On Wednesday, May 16, LES will screen the final two films in the 2006-2007 Labor & Community Film Series: Transnational Tradeswomen and Sisters of Philadelphia. The showing will start at 7 p.m. at the Lakes & Plains Regional Council of Carpenters, 700 Olive St., St. Paul.

Transnational Tradeswomen (62 minutes) is a documentary by former construction worker Vivian Price that explores the current and historical roles of women in the construction industry in Asia – discovering several startling facts.

Capturing footage that shatters common stereotypes, Price discovers that women in many parts of Asia have been doing construction labor for centuries. But conversations with these women show that development and the resulting mechanization are pushing them out of the industry. Their stories disturb the notion of "progress" that many people hold and show how globalization, modernization, education and technology don\'t always result in gender equality and the alleviation of poverty.

Celebrating a range of women workers – from a Japanese truck driver and two young Pakistani women working on a construction site in Lahore, to a Taiwanese woman who works alongside her husband – this film deftly probes the connections in their experiences.

Sisters of Philadelphia (11 minutes) is a film produced by and for women carpenters in Philadelphia. K.S. Haskey, the director, has worked as a U.B.C.J. carpenter for over 21 years. She highlights the warmth and spirit that women in the trades bring to their work and to the labor movement overall.

The film showing is co-sponsored with the Lakes & Plains Council of Carpenters and Women in the Trades.

For more information
For more on the Labor Education Service, visit www.laboreducation.org