'Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada' by Graphic History Collective and David Lester is a brief history of strikes in Canada.

Strikes have involved art, so what better way to tell the history of strikes than by a group of artists. Strikes were born out of harsh working conditions like the fur trappers who refused to work without equal pay or the huge one in Winnipeg in 1919 where workers were looking for a voice.

I liked the story this tells, but it's pretty brief. The art styles by the various artists are fairly complementary which leads to a story that flows with each creative change.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Between the Lines and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

In May and June 1919, thousands of workers walked off their jobs in the city of Winnipeg to voice their anger at several issues including the lack of collective bargaining rights, union recognition, and growing inequality. In Direct Action Gets the Goods: A Graphic History of the Strike in Canada, the Graphic History Collective looks at many of the strikes that have helped form Canada starting even before it became a country when in 1829, Cree boatman refused to work for the Hudson's Bay Company unless they received the same pay for their pelts as those who worked for York Factory. It then follows a timeline right up to 2018 when graduate students and contract faculty struck at York University.

For anyone interested in the history of labour in Canada, this is a fascinating read. Art has been a very important part of union history since its beginnings and it works well here to advance the narrative. Although it was released to commemorate the Winnipeg General Strike, it is a valuable resource for future actions, not only for labour but for other movements whether the climate days of action or against austerity measures that are presently being enacted against the most vulnerable in our society including the recent cuts to healthcare and education and not only in Canada.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and between the Lines for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

This is a tough one to rate. What we have is a history of strikes in Canada as told through modern cartoonists. And the agenda is very heavy here - Canadians are not striking as they have in the past and so they are at risk of being heavily disadvantaged by profit-minded employers. The author is very upfront that this is a labor movement manifesto encouraging and educating on the efficiency, viability, and strength of strikes. The history of strikes is delineated by eras, starting from the late 1880s and ending in a recent postal strike. Running through all the vignettes is a narrator in the form of the black "Sab" cat - an old symbol of 'pouncing' on the capitalists who value money over humanity.

As an education piece, I am conflicted. On the one hand, it is historically accurate and somewhat educational. But this is so far skewed and narrowly focused to push an agenda that it is a very one-sided story. Granted, few would argue that the strikes did not improve worker conditions and things would be much worse for the labor force without them. But at the same time, it does neatly sidestep bigger pictures issues such as economics, factories closing and workers becoming unemployed, depressions and recessions, etc. that also adversely affected workers after strikes. It's almost a simplistic picture of the issue that I think an economist would easily refute.

No history is every without bias. And the author is up front about the purpose of this book. But at the same time, it feels disingenuous to give such a one-sided view in order to justify a course of action that could have much huger long-term consequences at the expense of short term gains. There is so much more to the issue. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This is a pretty amazing book on the history of strikes in Canada. It is not the history of the labor movement, so much as a history of why strikes were called, and who they were called on. And, of course, how the government reacted to the strikes, which is almost always that they try to break them.

The book is broken down into sections of time, such as the 1800-1900, 1900-1940s (which covers both world wars), 1940s-1970s and the 1970s to present.

The back of the book lists all the major strikes in Canada, including, the most recent, postal strike that happens in 2018.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.32.51-PM.png" alt="Direct action gets the goods." class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4858" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.33.16-PM.png" alt="direct action gets the goods" " class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4857" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.34.31-PM.png" alt="Direct action gets the goods" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4856" />

Very informative. And the details in the back of the book which speak about the sourcd documents, and what was used in the illustrations, and where certain elements came from.

Good reference book for libraries and schools, and a starting point to find out more about the labor movement.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.