Thesis in Alberta legal/labour history: 1986 Gainers' Strike

"Class Struggle and Solidarity in Neo-Liberal Times: The 1986 Gainers Strike," an M.A. thesis by Andrea Samoil  (Trent University, advisor Bryan Palmer) is now available through the ProQuest Theses & Dissertations database.

Abstract:
The lengthy and raucous 1986 Gainers meatpacking plant strike in Edmonton, Alberta was one of the most important events in recent Alberta labour history. In the midst of the economic crisis of the 1980s and the rise of neo-liberal ideas, the strike marked a backlash by both the labour movement and ordinary citizens against attacks on workers and unions. Characterized by widely covered picket line violence, repressive police and court actions, and government unresponsiveness, the strike generated massive solidarity within and beyond the labour movement. This solidarity originated in a rejection of the neo-liberal new reality of Alberta typified by high unemployment, anti-union laws and practices, and lack of government welfare support, and it generated a provincial change the law campaign, national boycott, and rising class consciousness. The working class mobilization during the Gainers strike was a watershed for the Alberta labour movement.

CFP: "Inequalities: Politics, Policy and the Past," Social Science History Association Meeting, Toronto

The Labor Network of the Social Science History Association invites proposals for papers and complete panels for the 39th annual meeting of the Social Science History Association in Toronto, Ontario, November
6-9, 2014.  We also are looking for volunteers to serve as panel chairs and discussants.

For more information on the meeting as well as the call for proposals,
please refer to the SSHA website: www.ssha.org. Additionally, please note
that the SSHA grants several awards and student travel grants, for which
you also can apply.

The deadline for paper and/or panel submissions is February 14th, 2014.

The Social Science History Association Meeting provides a stimulating
interdisciplinary venue for exploring an array of issues related to the
study of social processes over time. This year's theme is Inequalities:
Politics, Policy and the Past.

We welcome and encourage papers and panel proposals on a wide array of
issues related to the historical study of labor and labor movements.
Network members have expressed specific interest in organizing panels
around the following themes:

1. Author-Meets-Critics:  Claire Crowston, Credit, Fashion, Sex:
Economies of Regard in Old Regime France (Janine Lanza, Wayne State
University, organizer)

2. Workers in the Fast Food Industry (Jeremy Milloy, Simon Fraser
University, organizer)

3. Work and the Environment (Josiah Rector, Wayne State University,
organizer)

4. From Labor and Working-Class History to Histories of Capitalism:  Where
Do We Go From Here

5. The Resurgence of Materialist Feminism:  Understanding Gender and Labor
Historically

6. The Decline of Organized Labor and the Rising Tide of Inequality

7. Labor in the Energy Sector

8. Restructuring Labor and the Evolution of Capitalism

9. Remaking the Global Working Class:  Inequality, Race, and Generation

10. The Labor of Knowledge:  The Political Economy of Higher Education,
Work, and Class Relations

11. The Nation-State in Labor History, especially Canadian-U.S. comparisons


Please use the SSHA's web conference management system to submit your
papers and panel proposals. Paper title, brief abstract, and contact
information should be submitted on the sitehttp://conference.ssha.org/.
(If you haven’t used the system previously you will need to create an
account, which is a very simple process.)

Thank you, and we look forward to a stimulating set of panels at this
year's SSHA meeting.

(via H-CANADA)