Bread and Roses (2000 film)

Bread and Roses
Bread and Roses
	DVD cover
Directed by	Ken Loach
Written by	Paul Laverty
Produced by	Rebecca O'Brien
Starring	Pilar Padilla; Adrien Brody; Elpidia Carrillo;
Cinematography	Barry Ackroyd
Edited by	Jonathan Morris
Music by	George Fenton
Production; company	see production
Distributed by	FilmFour Distributors (United Kingdom); Alta Films (Spain)
Release dates	10 May 2000 (CFF); 11 May 2001 (UK);
Running time	110 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; Germany; Spain;
Languages	English; Spanish;
Box office	$533,479

Bread and Roses is a 2000 film directed by Ken Loach, starring Pilar Padilla, Adrien Brody and Elpidia Carrillo. The plot deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in Los Angeles and their fight for better working conditions and the right to unionize. It is based on the "Justice for Janitors" campaign of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU),^[1] and the lead union organizer, Sam Shapiro, is based on SEIU organizer Jono Shaffer.^[2]

The film is critical of inequalities in the United States. Health insurance in particular is highlighted and it is also stated in the film that the pay of cleaners and other low paying jobs has declined in recent years.

The film's name, "Bread and Roses", derives from the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Though the phrase comes from a 1911 poem by James Oppenheim (which was, in turn, based on a speech given by Rose Schneiderman), it is commonly associated with the Lawrence strike, which united dozens of immigrant communities, led to a large extent by women, under the leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World.

^ Bread and Roses Foreword, SEIU President Andrew L. Stern
^ Selvin, Molly (3 June 2007). "A worker for janitors, guards". Los Angeles Times.

[1] Bread and Roses Foreword, SEIU President Andrew L. Stern

[2] Selvin, Molly (3 June 2007). "A worker for janitors, guards". Los Angeles Times.

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