Smelter Wars: A Rebellious Red Trade Union Fights for Its Life in Wartime Western Canada

"Smelter Wars tells a fascinating tale of rebellious trade union resistance and activism in wartime Trail. This book is a riveting account of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Local 480’s) struggle against the powerful Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada."

CUPE Communities

"Smelter Wars was both a very informative book as well as a most enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in labour history, indeed, to anyone interested in BC history."

Ken Novakowski, BC Labour Heritage Centre Newsletter

"As a former CUPE national communications director, Verzuh has synthesized an astonishing amount of detail, prompting one reader to say, ‘it’s not often a history like this is a page-turner, but this one definitely is.’"

Sheri Regnier, Trail Times

"Highly detailed and requiring close concentration, Smelter Wars impresses with its depth of research."

Robert D. Parmet, York College, The City University of New York, New York Labor History Association

"Smelter Wars is the story of the era. The book is wonderful."

Holly Doan, Blacklock’s Reporter

"Smelter Wars offers an important new contribution to a fascinating period in Canadian labour history. Trail smelter workers faced a tough employer, bent upon installing a company union; governments reacting to the so-called Red Scare; and a reactionary Canadian labour movement, which supported numerous failed raiding attempts. The workers saw through the ‘fake news’ of their day and stuck with their union leadership. An inspiring message for today’s workers."

Paul Moist, President Emeritus, Canadian Union of Public Employees

"Smelter Wars is the best kind of labour history: rooted in deep connections to place and politics, shaped by direct experience ‘on the line,’ and the product of intellectual curiosity and attentiveness to the lessons the past holds for contemporary labour movements. Ron Verzuh has the ability to make connections between the struggles and personalities of a radical union in BC’s Southern Interior and the broader contours of extractive capitalism and its social relations in the postwar period in a way that is both highly readable and deeply insightful."

Kendra Strauss, Professor and Director, Labour Studies Program and The Morgan Centre for Labour Research, Simon Fraser University

“I love this book and I am particularly happy to be learning things that were important in my early life.” Ronald Shearer, Kootenay-born author and historian

“It’s not often a history like this is a page-turner, but this one definitely is . . . an excellent read and a much-needed contribution.” Tom Wayman, author

“Smelter Wars is meticulously researched while keeping the reader engaged in fascinating details about the early times of unions in Canada, especially British Columbia.” Marc Bélanger, News Producer, RadioLabour

“Verzuh has synthesized an astonishing amount of detail in an excellent way.” Derek Blackadder, LabourStart Canada

"This book makes a powerful contribution to the field of labour history. I am very impressed by Ron Verzuh’s research and his history of Mine-Mill is path-breaking. Its focus on one specific struggle offers a close-up view of the struggle that tore apart the entire labour movement. It’s also a very readable and engaging story that I will recommend to my students." Julie Guard, University of Manitoba

"A powerful piece of work, from the studious attention to all of the ins-and-outs and dramatic complications of labour in Trail to the contextual portrayal of life, community, media distractions, group dynamics, and gender politics. As a pro-labour community advocate, I appreciate the clear and critical exploration of relationships on the ground in Trail as well as the broader Canadian/US/Euro-USSR context. Ron Verzuh has captured, distilled, and portrayed – with care and balance – the complexities of left politics at the time."

Lin Nelson, Emeritus, The Evergreen State College