“9 to 5” is a phrase that will remind some people of the 1980 movie with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton or the Dolly Parton song that accompanies it. While that movie is worth watching, there is another one that you shouldn’t miss.
The documentary, 9 to 5: The Story of a Movement, shows how office workers in Boston in the 1970s, living in a sexist, abusive, and discriminatory society, organized themselves and the people around them to build 9to5, National Association of Working Women, in which they fought for better working conditions, better pay, and more job mobility, and against sexual harassment.
The movie dives deep into how the women organized: talking to their coworkers about their common problems, writing their own newsletters, flyering transit stops and workplaces, and much more. This movie gives the viewer an in-depth look at the actions and decisions ordinary working people take in order to change their workplaces and society at large.
As of this writing, the film can be found on PBS or Netflix.
