On Strike: Six Key Labour Struggles in Canada 1919-1949

On Strike examines six major Canadian labour conflicts that occurred between 1919 and 1949. The book chronicles strikes in Winnipeg, Cape Breton, Stratford, Oshawa, Windsor and Asbestos. Irving Abella investigates each confrontation through primary sources and firsthand accounts from workers, union leaders, company officials, and government representatives. The strikes span different industries including mining, manufacturing, and railways, highlighting the evolution of organized labour across multiple sectors. Each chapter focuses on a specific strike while maintaining connections to the broader historical context of Canadian industrial relations. The text explores the roles of key figures and organizations that shaped these events, from union activists to corporate executives to political leaders. The book reveals patterns in how Canadian labour movements developed and how power dynamics between workers and industry shifted over these three transformative decades. Through these six case studies, fundamental questions emerge about class, economic justice, and the relationship between capital and labour in Canada.

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🔹 Irving Abella became the first Jewish person to hold the prestigious position of President of the Canadian Historical Association in 1999, decades after writing this influential work on Canadian labour history. 🔹 The 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, covered in the book, was the largest strike in Canadian history with over 30,000 workers walking off their jobs - effectively shutting down Canada's third-largest city for six weeks. 🔹 The author later co-wrote "None Is Too Many," a groundbreaking book exposing Canada's restrictive policies toward Jewish refugees during WWII, which led to significant changes in Canadian immigration policies. 🔹 The strikes documented in the book occurred during a period when union membership in Canada grew from about 160,000 in 1919 to nearly a million by 1949. 🔹 One of the strikes covered, the 1946 Stelco strike in Hamilton, helped establish the modern "Rand Formula" - a landmark labor law principle requiring all employees in unionized workplaces to pay union dues, whether they join the union or not.