OCC Presents: UNION

Join us for a screening of Stephen Maing and Brett Story’s UNION, a documentary that follows the story of a grassroots union campaign against one of the most powerful companies on the planet.

This screening organised by Ormeau Community Cinema will be followed by a panel/Q&A session with Conchúr Moore (Document Belfast), Ryan McKinney (FORSA), Professor John Barry (QUB) and Dr Conor McCabe (QUB) to share their own personal insights into the power and challenges of campaigning and unionising.

About UNION Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign in Staten Island, New York against one of the most powerful companies on the planet.

Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today’s globalized economic landscape.

Conchúr Moore (Document Belfast) is Belfast born and raised. For his sins he worked in local politics voluntarily for 15+ years on and off and was a union rep for five years. With a huge interest in history, Conchúr founded the social media page Document Belfast, which covers Belfast and Irish history/tourism.

Ryan McKinney is a National Secretary and Head of Strategic Change at Fórsa, Ireland’s second largest union and the Chairperson of Unions 21 Ireland. Ryan oversees key organisational change projects, national and divisional union conferences and implementation of the Fórsa Strategic Plan. He was a Belfast-based union official before joining the Fórsa staff in 2017. Since becoming an active trade unionist 25 years ago Ryan has participated in numerous social justice and solidarity campaigns and he was recently appointed to the Just Transition Commission where he aims to give workers a voice as the Irish government moves to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.

Professor John Barry (QUB) is a father, a political activist, recovering politician, trades unionist and Professor of Green Political Economy in the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action at Queens University Belfast. His forthcoming book is provisionally entitled Practicing What You Teach: Anti-Capitalist and Post-Growth Tales of Failing (Forward) from the Molehills of Power and Disciplinary Margins (2025, Agenda Publishers).

Dr. Conor McCabe is a research fellow with Queen’s Business School, specialising in work practices and conditions in e-commerce fulfilment centres across the UK.

Age 18+.

Tickets for this event are available from here>>

Part of Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics>>