9 To 5: Story of a Movement–Reichert and Bognar’s Documentary about Untold Story of Secretaries Fighting Back

Produced and directed by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar

In the early 1970s, a group of secretaries in Boston decided that they had suffered in silence long enough. Inspired by the Women’s Liberation Movement, they began fighting back, aiming to force changes in their workplaces.
Their goals were better pay, job descriptions, respect, advancement opportunities, and end to sexual harassment. To that extent, they employed outrageous humor to attract the press and shame their bosses into change.
This movement, taking the name 9to5, became national, and inspired Dolly Parton’s iconic song and Jane Fonda’s hit film of the same name.
Later becoming a formal union, 9to5 encapsulated a unique intersection of the women’s and labor movements. The awareness these women brought to bear on their work reverberates even today. Clerical workers were the low-wage workers of their era, and as America confronts the growing reality of deep income inequality, and commonplace sexual harassment, the stories and strategies of these bold, creative women continue to resonate deeply.
The docu features interviews with 9to5 founders Ellen Cassedy and Karen Nussbaum, 9to5 member and ex-Chair of the SF Democratic Party Mary Jung, actress-activist Jane Fonda and others.