Manufacturing Meltdown

Reshaping Steel Work

D.W. Livingstone, Dorothy Smith, Warren Smith

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.

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

About the Authors

D.W. Livingstone is Canada Research Chair in Lifelong Learning and Work and professor emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

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 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.