(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch)
This is an exhaustive book…but it needs to be to properly tell the story of one of the worst labor disputes in Canadian history.
In the early 1990s, the remote town of Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, was thrust into a labor dispute – and into the national spotlight, when mineworkers at the Giant Mine went on strike for better wages and working conditions. The new owners of the mine stood firm and refused to agree to any of the striker’s demands and before long, a rancorous, bitter battle raged that would pit management against workers, worker against worker, and neighbor against neighbor. The conflict quickly escalated into incidents of violence, sabotage, harassment, and finally murder, when a IED was placed inside the mine and nine replacement workers were killed.
Authors Selleck and Thompson do a great job of documenting all of the twists and turns of this amazing story, but what I liked most was the human element that they did such a wonderful job of illustrating. Equally as vivid was the nearly poetic depiction of life for the men toiling in one of the most dangerous professions in the world nearly a quarter mile beneath the earth.
A definite good read that will leave you enlightened, educated, and entertained.
