The BC Employment Standards Coalition, along with the BC Federation of Labour, is pleased to be co-sponsoring the screening of The Hand That Feeds as part of the Just Film Festival. It will be screened on Thursday, February 11th as the second film in a double-feature, with the first film beginning at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d6604tfm-k

At a popular bakery café, residents of New York’s Upper East Side get bagels and coffee served with a smile 24 hours a day. Behind the scenes, undocumented immigrant workers face sub-legal wages, dangerous machinery and abusive managers who will fire them for calling in sick.

Risking deportation and job loss, the workers team up with innovative young organizers and form their own independent union, launching themselves on a journey that will test the limits of their resolve. In one roller-coaster year, they must overcome a shocking betrayal and a two-month lockout. Lawyers battle in back rooms and workers walk the picket line with support from the “Occupy” crowd. If they can win a contract, it will set a historic precedent. But whatever happens, these workers will never be the same.

The BC Employment Standards Coalition will also be present for a Q&A after the film to share ideas about how the issues depicted in the film, which is situated in New York, relate to the local context in BC.