Every Day Is for the Thief

Happy Labour Day! 
Ever since I participated in my first union strike  earlier this year, I've felt like I was missing some important history and knowledge; this seemed like the ideal time and material to begin filling in that gap. 
Not gonna lie, pretty enraging and dispiriting read.
You would also be correct in assuming this was a fairly dry read. That does not make its contents any less important.   

I'm glad my library had the latest edition of this book, I was pleased to see a consistent acknowledgement and discussion of how minorities (genders, sexualities, ethnicities) were affected by and affected the course of the labour movement.

My greatest takeaways: 

1) Workers have had to fight for rights, for less shitty circumstances since they've had employers paying them wages. There are no good old days in labour history.

2) History of labour movement/formation and achievements of unions in Canada seems to be a pattern of ‘ that worked, that didn't work, let's try again' which feels hopeful even in the face of the recognition that capitalist employers are never going to give an inch if they aren't forced to, and all too often the government is on the employer's side and also has to be pushed into making changes that benefit workers and provide a social support system. 

3)Government also has a filthy history beyond manipulating existing law towards the capitalist employer's benefit, going further toward unethical/illegal activity the courts have to smack down, and using police/military force to break strikes?! Just fully realizing the depths of my naivete. 🤦🏼‍♂️

4) Getting together to fight for something only works if you agree on what you're fighting for, and how to do so. Solidarity! Time and again reading this history is a replay of what happens when different group are at odds, about how to do things, what is most important. Unions faded as often because of internal sabotage/inconsistencies , as they did because economic down turn weakened their positions. Works the same for the political parties allegedly on their side, voted into power and then not able or unwilling to move forwards with actions that workers who supported them prioritized. 🤷🏼‍♂️

5) How changes in society, politics and economy affect the labour movement, workers rights, case in point: 
I should probably do more reading on the subject, but based on the perspective and history detailed here: Fuck NAFTA!

6) U.S. influence and support a curse and a blessing. Their unions provided power, finances, paved the way in lending early support to union efforts, but also wanted control without much compromise, and really diverged later in political perspective/goals. 

So, yes, I will be continuing my education, but I think I can solidly recommend this as a good starting point.

P.S.  It is a 200 page ‘short' history, FYI.😮‍💨.  I'd probably be less bitter about that if I hadn't basically assigned myself homework during a long weekend. 🥴