Treachery, arson, beatings, shootings, sabotage, mobsters, and jail -
The rise of a union powerhouse "Some are born to make a difference.
Stefanini brought savvy and strategy, creating a muscular stalwart out
of Labourers Local 183, which set historical benchmarks for the
hard-toiling blue-collar class, and ultimately beyond. It was no job for
the faint of heart. Still isn't." - ROSIE DIMANNO, columnist, Toronto
Star This is a Horatio Alger story from the other side of the
negotiating table. In 1959, eighteen-year-old John Stefanini left
war-shattered Italy for a better life in the new world. With no money
and no English, he landed in Toronto's burgeoning Italian community and
found work in the construction industry. Radicalized by the horrific
deaths of five Italian workers, he became active in union politics and
was jailed for his (non-violent) part in a violent strike. On his
release, he began his dramatic rise to become one of the most formidable
forces on the Canadian union scene. With hard work, shrewdness, and
strategic vision, Stefanini built the lowly Labourers Local 183 into a
union powerhouse, the dominant organization of its kind in North
America. He expanded its membership from a few hundred to tens of
thousands, and won for his workers a set of benefits that had once
seemed impossible. With good sense and wry humour, Stefanini lays bare
the life of a full-time labour organizer. He describes his surprisingly
collegial relations with some of the world's toughest contractors, and
details the often bitter and violent conflicts among ethnic groups and
rival unions determined to rise at each other's expense. We meet
meddling mobsters and tone-deaf prime ministers. We witness treachery,
arson, beatings, shootings, sabotage, police anti-corruption
investigations, and all-night, nail-biting, career-defining
negotiations. Above all, we gain - for the first time - an inside look
at a brotherhood of workers who deserve as much credit for the building
of modern Canada as the celebrated tycoons for whom they toiled.
