Laborfest: Empires, Kings, and Labor Walking Tour

Empires, Kings, and Labor Walking Tour
By David Giesen
Come along on a one hour and fifteen minute stomp navigating Union Square (and nearby blocks) that tells in microcosm the whole story of labor struggles. From sugar and cotton plantations to Texas-sized cattle empires to railroad kingdoms and on to latter day virtual latifundias, workers in San Francisco and beyond have faced the crushing millstones of tantalizingly ubiquitous but just out of reach capital for small business start-up from above, and inexorable, obdurate high rents from below. The buildings and urban features around Union Square illuminate the enduring struggles of workers down the ages.
See also:
http://www.laborfest.net/2013/2013schedule.htm