Vintage 1981 Solidarity Day Labor Rally Poster SF Inkworks Union Print M. Mosher For Sale

Vintage 1981 Solidarity Day Labor Rally Poster SF Inkworks Union Print M. Mosher

Item Description

Add an authentic piece of American labor and political history to your collection with this rare vintage 1981 screenprint poster. Created to promote the San Francisco Solidarity Day rally held on September 19, 1981 at Vaillancourt Plaza, this striking red-and-white poster captures the intense political counter-mobilization of the early Reagan era.

The powerful design features iconic graphics and typography highlighting critical labor and social justice struggles of the time, including:

Support the Air Controllers Strike (referencing the historic PATCO strike)

Defend Reproductive Rights

From Poland to the U.S. (showing solidarity with the Polish Solidarność movement)

Fight Reagan’s Cutbacks, War Moves, and Attacks on Working People!

Printed locally by the legendary Inkworks Press—a prominent collective known for producing iconic movement art and union-printed ephemera throughout the East Bay and San Francisco—and signed in the plate by artist M. Mosher. A must-have for collectors of political protest art, labor history, and 1980s counterculture memorabilia.

Maker Bio: Inkworks Press & M. Mosher

Inkworks Press: Operating for decades out of the San Francisco Bay Area, Inkworks was a pioneering, worker-owned union print shop (allied with union graphic printing trades) that served as a vital hub for political activism. They printed posters, pamphlets, and newsletters for civil rights, feminist, anti-war, and labor organizations.

M. Mosher: A notable political illustrator and poster artist active in the Bay Area progressive art scene during the late 20th century, known for striking linocut-style graphics that mobilized support for grassroots movements.

Historical Context & Interesting Facts

The Historic Sept. 19, 1981 Mobilization: While hundreds of thousands marched on Washington, D.C. on September 19, 1981, parallel major actions occurred nationwide. In San Francisco, an estimated 10,000 demonstrators gathered at Vaillancourt Plaza (at the foot of Market Street) to protest the aggressive union-busting and sweeping domestic budget cuts enacted by the Ronald Reagan administration.

The PATCO Connection: The backdrop of this rally was heavily influenced by President Reagan's firing of over 11,000 striking air traffic controllers belonging to PATCO just weeks prior, a defining moment that drastically shifted modern American labor relations.

Global Solidarity: The inclusion of "From Poland to the U.S." connects the American labor struggle directly to Europe, coinciding with the historic rise of Poland’s independent Solidarność (Solidarity) trade union movement led by Lech Wałęsa against the communist regime.