The Organizer by
The Organizer follows Eddie Kay on his adventures organizing the rank and file labor movement. Taught by Leon Davis, founder of 1199 and Elliott Godoff, he develops Vanessa and Inez as leaders and together they organize 40 nursing homes and hospitals in Long Island, He then challenges Presbyterian Hospital’s racist practices with Steve and Jimmy by unionizing the “Castle on the Hill.” Black and Hispanic workers...
The Organizer follows Eddie Kay on his adventures organizing the rank and file labor movement. Taught by Leon Davis, founder of 1199 and Elliott Godoff, he develops Vanessa and Inez as leaders and together they organize 40 nursing homes and hospitals in Long Island, He then challenges Presbyterian Hospital’s racist practices with Steve and Jimmy by unionizing the “Castle on the Hill.” Black and Hispanic workers can only get low paying service jobs and do not get benefits unless they are ‘favorites’ of supervisors. 1199 was Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite union because he believed in bridging the civil rights movement to economic empowerment of minorities. The Organizer show how working people were uplifted by 1199’s struggle against racism and poverty wages in New York City from the late 60’s through early 70’s.