Bread and Roses (2000)

Being a winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, I had hoped this film would be a little less of a polemic, but I still enjoyed it.

Beginning with a very tense (though almost slapstick) illegal immigration to the United States from Mexico, Maya seeks employment in Los Angeles as a janitor. She very soon meets a union organizer who stirs the pot enough for the exploitative employers to retaliate.

The acting in the film is perhaps a bit over the top and the film makers can't quite decide if the film is a heavy drama or a light one.

It is clear that from this picture, which is based on true events, that unions have a role to lift up the downtrodden, but what isn't discussed is the negative side of unions, nor the issue of illegal labourers. It's an important issue and one more films should portray.

IMDB