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Bienfait: The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggle of '31
Bienfait The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggle of '31 Author:Stephen Endicott Against all odds, the miners of Bienfait, Saskatchewan attempted, in 1931, to change their miserable situation by organizing a union. Stephen Endicott focuses on the miners' tumultuous thirty-day strike to explore the social consequences of capitalist restructuring during the Great Depression. The miners' bid to gain union recognition with the... more » aid of the Workers' Unity League of Canada failed, and Endicott's in?depth examination of the key factors and players attempts to explain why it did so, and why a similar union drive a decade later eventually succeeded.Based on a large number of both oral and written primary resources, Bienfait offers a new interpretation of the role of the corporations, the government, the courts and the police and in the process demonstrates how a militant union leadership helped the workers gain the strength and unity of purpose to challenge the powers of wealth and deep-seated prejudice. Endicott opens a new chapter in the history of Canadian labour relations which reveals much about Canadians and Canadian society during the Depression.« less