The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short History

by Craig Heron

In The Canadian Labour Movement, historian Craig Heron tells the story of Canada's workers from the mid-nineteenth century through to today, painting a vivid picture of key developments such as the birth of craft unionism, the breakthroughs of the fifties and sixties, and the setbacks of the early twenty-first century. This new edition has been completely updated, including a substantial new chapter that covers the period from 1995 to 2011. In this chapter, Heron describes the rise of globalization and the restructuring of the private sector that began in the nineties and continues today. The results have been catastrophic for Canadian working people as plants closed and union activities were curtailed. As the political right succeeded in dominating public debate during this period, workers suffered ever greater losses: fewer and more precarious jobs, rising unemployment, stagnating wages, and increases in poverty. Only with the crash of 2008 and the Occupy Wall Street movement has space for the political left and labour begun to open up once again.

The Canadian Labour Movement is the definitive book for anyone who is interested in understanding the origins, achievements, and challenges of labour and social justice movements in Canada.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Beetsobriety · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book gives a decent overview of the Canadian Labour Movement as defined by Heron (basically unioned, white, "working class" vs "middle class", anglophone, and male). If you want a quick resouce into the TLC or the CCL, check it out otherwise I wouldn't bother. His attempt with the second edition to interject some of the "others" is a half hearted, half-executed struggle to read and his historical timelines are outdated.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class. I don't think I would have picked this book up alone, but it is a good and succinct overview of Canada's labour movement. I kind of wish people had to read this before they could vote. I did learn many things. My only real complaint is that I thought the timeline jumped around too much. Otherwise, I'd love to have a conversation with the author.

[Nicholas Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written, no citations just "further readings" divided into "eras" and written from such a pro-communist standpoint that even the social democratic NDP are a centrist party to the author. I'm not exaggerating. Thankfully it was short.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, highly accessible, introductory survey, but infinitely more readable than a texbook.