Making Work Better

This spring is the centenary of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, one of the most significant events in Canadian social history.

To mark the occasion, a few publishers have released new titles about the Winnipeg strike or new editions of books about the strike. Meanwhile, several others have recently published books about a range of aspects of Canadian labour history.

The books listed here explore the lives of workers — and would-be workers — across a range of occupations and across the country, including the stories of women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

Magnificent Fight: The Winnipeg General Strike, by Dennis Lewycky

1919: A Graphic History of the Winnipeg General Strike, by The Graphic History Collective and David Lester

Winnipeg 1919: The Strikers’ Own History of the General Strike, edited by Norman Penner

Working Lives: Essays in Canadian Working-Class History, by Craig Heron

They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada, by Cecil Foster

Wages for Housework: A History of an International Feminist Movement, 1972–77, by Louise Toupin

Working towards Equity: Disability Rights Activism and Employment in Late Twentieth-Century Canada, by Dustin Galer

Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Violence at Work in the North American Auto Industry, 1960–80, by Jeremy Milloy

On the Line: A History of the British Columbia Labour Movement, by Rod Mickleburgh

Through the Mill: Girls and Women in the Quebec Cotton Textile Industry, 1881–1951, by Gail Cuthbert Brandt

One Job Town: Work, Belonging, and Betrayal in Northern Ontario, by Steven High

Read our review.

Power, Politics, and Principles: Mackenzie King and Labour, 1935–1948, by Taylor Hollander

Canadian Carnival Freaks and the Extraordinary Body, 1900–1970s, by Jane Nicholas

Rough Work: Labourers on the Public Works of British North America and Canada, 1841–1882, by Ruth Bleasdale

Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada, by The Graphic History Collective

Westray: My Journey from Darkness to Light, by Vernon Thibault, as told to Marjorie Coady