Book
Canadian labour in crisis : reinventing the workers' movement / David Camfield.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781552664162
- Physical Description: viii, 160 p. ; 23 cm.
- Publisher: Winnipeg : Fernwood Publishing, 2011.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Working class > Canada > Social conditions. Labor movement > Canada. Labor unions > Canada. Labor unions > Canada. Working class > Canada > Political activity. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at Legislative Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative Library, Vaughan Street | HD 8104 Cam c.1 (Text) | 36970000793085 | Manitoba Heritage Collection | Not holdable | Onsite consultation | - |
| Legislative Library, Vaughan Street | HD 8104 Cam c.2 (Text) | 36970000857351 | General Collection | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Blackwell Publishing
Showing his readers important parts of yesterday's and today's Canadian labour movement that most rarely see, the author calls for a new and deeply democratic working class movement. His well-researched, thoughtful analysis of what's wrong with Canadian labour goes well beyond most current debates. In clear language, he envisions a new, worker-centred society based on genuinely participatory citizenship--- Don Wells, Director, School of Labour Studies, McMaster University
Does Canada have a working-class movement? Though most of us think of ourselves as middle class, most of us are, in fact, part of the working class: we work for wages and are not managers. Although many of us are members of unions --- the most significant organizations of the working-class movement in Canada --- most people do not understand themselves to be part of this movement. Is the working class movement a relic of the twentieth-century factory worker, no longer relevant to workers in the twenty-first century?
Canadian Labour in Crisis argues that, despite its real deficiencies, the movement is as important today as it was a hundred years ago. Drawing on the ideas of union and community activists as well as academic research, David Camfield offers an analysis of the contemporary Canadian working-class movement and how it came to be in its current state. He argues that re-energizing the movement in its current form is not enough --- it needs to be reinvented to face the challenges of contemporary capitalism. Considering potential ways forward, Camfield asserts that reforming unions from below and building new workers' organizations offer the best possibilities for effecting real change within the movement - Book News
While the situation may not be as dire as it is immediately to the south in the United States, Canada's labor movement is nevertheless facing a moment of crisis, argues Camfield (labor studies, U. of Manitoba, Canada), as unions fail to resist demands for workers' concessions, fail to democratically engage their memberships, become ever more distant from non-unionized workers (especially in the private sector), under-represent minority workers and younger workers, and focus too much on electoral campaigns for politicians who do not defend workers rights. Surveying this situation, he argues that all is not lost, however; that the labor movement has remade itself in the past in response to societal and economic changes and that it can it can remake itself again by reforming unions from below and building new workers' organizations from the bottom-up. Distributed by Independent Publishers Group of Chicago. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) - Columbia Univ Pr
Does Canada have a working-class movement? Though many of us think of ourselves as middle class, most of us are, in fact, working class: we work for a wage. And though many of us are members of unions â the most significant organizations of the working-class movement in Canada â most people do not understand themselves to be part of this movement. Canadian Labour in Crisis asks why this is so. Through an analysis of the contemporary Canadian working-class movement and its historical development, David Camfield offers an explanation for its current state and argues that reform within the movement is not enough. From the structure of organizations to their activities and even the guiding ideology, Camfield contends that the movement needs a radical reinvention â and offers us a new way forward in reaching this goal. - Independent Publishing Group
Most people in the Canadian working class do not see themselves as part of a crusade, despite being members of unions, and this analysis suggests a radical reinvention of the working-class movement in Canada. First chronicling the historical development of the movement, from the structure of unions and other organizations to their activities and even the guiding ideology, it then offers an explanation for its current state, contending that reform within the movement is not enough. Featuring critical examinations of the workersâ movement and unions in Canada with voices from each, the author presents a new way forward in reaching the goal of reform.
