Labour History

A political and economic analysis of the history of working people in Alberta.

The first comprehensive and authoritative history of work and labour in Africa; a key text for all working on African Studies and Labour History worldwide.

The BC tradition of fighting back against unfair pay and unsafe working conditions has been around since before the colony joined Confederation. In 1849 Scottish labourers at BC’s first coal mine at Fort Rupert went on strike to protest wretched working conditions, and it’s been a wild ride ever since. For years the BC labour movement was the most militant in the land, led by colourful characters like Ginger Goodwin, murdered for his pains, and pull-no-punches communist Harvey Murphy, who brought the house of labour down on himself with his infamous “underwear speech.” Through years of battles with BC’s power elite and small victories followed by bitter defeats, BC unions established the five-day work week, the eight-hour day, paid holidays, the right to a safe, non-discriminatory workplace and many more taken-for-granted features of the modern work landscape. But unions’ enemies never sleep and, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, battles still go on, like that of BC teachers in their long and ultimately successful struggle to improve classroom conditions. On the Line also highlights the role played by women, Indigenous and minority workers in working toward equality and democracy in workplaces and communities. In prose that is both accessible and engaging, accompanied by over two hundred archival photos, Mickleburgh tells the important story of how BC’s labour organizations have shaped the economic, political and social fabric of the province—at a cost of much blood, sweat, toil and tears. This volume is the most comprehensive overview of labour’s struggle in BC and will be of particular interest to union members, community activists, academics and readers of regional history.

The role of gender in the history of the working class world

This collection of essays provides a generous introduction to the vibrant field of labour and working-class history in Canada's eastern provinces. Organized in four sections covering pre-industrial labour, the industrial revolution, labour's wars of the early twentieth century, and the rise of industrial legality, the book should prove useful in university classrooms and for all readers interested in the history of the region's ordinary people. Concluding chapters address topics of current interest such as public sector unionism, the role of women in the fishery, and the horrors of the Westray mine disaster. The editors provide an introduction, section heads, and suggestions for further reading.The volume is edited by David Frank, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, the former editor of Acadiensis, and Gregory S. Kealey, Department of History, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Dean of Graduate Studies. Authors include T.W. Acheson, Rusty Bittermann, Sean Cadigan, Jessie Chisholm, Patricia M. Connelly, Peter DeLottinville, E.R. Forbes, Eugene Forsey, Harry Glasbeek, Linda Little, Martha MacDonald, Robert McIntosh, Ian McKay, D.A. Muise, Nolan Reilly, Eric W. Sager, Anthony Thomson, and Eric Tucker.

The studies offered in this volume integrate the history of wage labor, of slavery, and of indentured labor. They contribute to a Global Labor History freed from Eurocentrism and methodological nationalism.

Provincial Solidarities tells the story of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour--part of the history of working class struggles in Canada.

The Violence of Work demonstrates that violence has always been an important part of work under capitalism. The editors explore workplace violence in a diverse range of North American workplaces from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century.