Director Yael Bridge’s second feature-length film, Who Moves America, follows UPS workers, both drivers and package handlers in the warehouse. To be more specific, the filmmaker chronicles the lead-up to the 2023 UPS Teamsters strike deadline. Bridge zeroes in on the fight for living wages, more humane working conditions, and safety improvements in New York, Kentucky, and California. She treats them as a microcosm of what UPS workers were facing across the United States of America.
The most shocking thing about the film isn’t the outcome (no spoilers). It is the unfettered access Bridge was granted. She films in the UPS warehouses themselves. She’s present at the teamster meetings. Just about the only thing Bridge doesn’t quietly observe are the meetings with the UPS higher-ups. This on-the-ground approach creates a tense, thrilling atmosphere. That tension, created by real people discussing money issues, child care problems, and other dilemmas, is a testament to Bridge and her editors, Viridiana Lieberman and Thomas Niles.
“…chronicles the lead-up to the 2023 UPS Teamsters strike deadline.”
Who Moves America also spotlights the volatile state of workers across the U.S. of A. In 2023, members of the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, United Auto Workers, Starbucks, and Kaiser Permanente went on strike. Some of these strikes lasted for over 100 days. Hopefully, lasting change was achieved. Greedy companies are still laying off employees en masse in favor of automation or artificial intelligence, as if CEOs and corporations did not learn anything from the strikes several years ago.
Who Moves America is an engrossing watch. Bridge makes every viewer a participant in the discussions and negotiations. She creates real stakes out of a preordained outcome. The use of archival footage from the 1997 UPS strike creates a fascinating juxtaposition. Anyone who feels a company is treating them or other employees unfairly will find Bridge’s documentary a perfect blueprint for fighting for change.
Learn more at the official Who Moves America website.
"…a perfect blueprint for fighting for change."
