Manufacturing Meltdown

Reshaping Steel Work

By D.W.  Livingstone, Dorothy E. Smith and Warren Smith  

Paperback $27.95

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In the 1980s, following decades of booming business, the global steel industry went into a precipitous decline, which necessitated significant restructuring. Management demanded workers’ increased participation in evermore temporary and insecure labour. Engaging the workers at the flagship Stelco plant in Hamilton, the authors document new management strategies and the responses of unionized workforces to them. These investigations provide valuable insights into the dramatic changes occurring within the Canadian steel industry.

“A gripping story of the upheaval in the lives of steelworkers, their families and communities as a result of industry restructuring.”

— Peter Warrian, senior research fellow, Munk School for Global Affairs, University of Toronto

“Manufacturing Meltdown explains what has happened to our manufacturing, our jobs, our future and our country. This is something that needed telling and this book tells it very well.”

— Bob Sutton, former recording secretary, United Steelworkers Local 1005 and editor of SteelShots

  • Labour & Unions
  • ISBN: 9781552664025
  • February 2011
  • 224 Pages
  • $27.95
  • For sale worldwide

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Contents

  • Introduction: Labour Displacement and the Enduring Significance of Steel Work
  • Melting the Core Steel Workforce, 1981-2003
  • Storing and Transmitting Skills: The Expropriation of Working-Class Control
  • The Future of Steel Jobs
  • References
  • Index

Authors

  • D.W.  Livingstone

    University of Toronto

    D.W. Livingstone is Professor Emeritus and past Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work at OISE/ University of Toronto. His most relevant prior books include Professional Power and Skill Use in the “Knowledge Economy”: A Class Analysis (2021); The Education–Jobs Gap (1998); and Class, Ideologies and Educational Futures (1983/2012).

  • Dorothy E. Smith

    Dorothy E. Smith is professor emerita in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE/UT and adjunct professor, Department of Sociology, University of Victoria.

  • Warren Smith

    Warren Smith worked at Stelco (now U.S. Steel Canada) in Hamilton Ontario from 1967 until his recent retirement. He was president of USW local 1005 from 1997 to 2003.

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