Matewan is a 1987 drama by John Sayles, illustrating the events of a coal mine-workers' strike and attempt to unionize in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia. As the narrator recalls, "things were tough". In response to efforts by miners to organize into a labor union, the Stone Mountain Coal Company announces it will cut the pay miners receive, and will be importing replacement workers into town to replace those who join the union. The stage is set for the Battle of Matewan.
Man of Iron (Polish: Człowiek z żelaza) is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union.
The Flivver KingA Story of Ford-America is a novel by Upton Sinclair, published in 1937. It was an important piece of literature in the organizing and unionization of Ford Motor Company manufacturing plants in the same year.