Continental Crucible: Big Business, Workers and Unions in the Transformation of North America

The crucible of North American neo-liberal transformation is heating up, but its outcome is far from clear. [This book] examines the clash between the corporate offensive and the forces of resistance from both a pan-continental and a class struggle perspective. This book also illustrates the ways in which the capitalist classes in Canada, Mexico and the United States used free trade agreements to consolidate their agendas and organize themselves continentally. The failure of traditional labour responses to stop the continental offensive being waged by big business has led workers and unions to explore new strategies of struggle and organization, pointing to the beginnings of a continental labour movement across North America. The battle for the future of North America has begun. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction: The Crucible of North American Transformation -- Part 1.The big business offensive: Continental integration and the class offensive from above -- The North American corporate offensive: The United States -- The North American corporate offensive: Canada -- The North American corporate offensive: Mexico -- The North American corporate offensive: NAFTA -- Part 2. The two binationalisms: Immigrants, workers and unions. Mexican immigration and the U.S. labour market -- Continental integration from below: The history of transnational labour markets and labour movements in North America. Part 3. Workers and unions: Responses and continental integration from below. Fighting back: Workers, unions, and continental solidarity -- Fighting back: The Mexican spark? -- Fighting back: The seeds of worker continentalism -- Epilogue: Rising from the ashes of NAFTA.