In 1938, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) sent communist union organizer Arthur "Slim" Evans to the smelter city of Trail, British Columbia, to establish Local 480 of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. Six years later the local was recognized as the legal representative of more than 5,000 workers at a smelter owned by the powerful Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada. But the union’s fight for survival had only just begun.

Smelter Wars unfolds that historic struggle, offering glimpses into the political, social, and cultural life of the semi-rural, single-industry community. Hindered by economic depression, two World Wars, and Cold War intolerance, Local 480 faced fierce corporate, media, and religious opposition at home. Ron Verzuh draws upon archival and periodical sources, including the mainstream and labour press, secret police records, and oral histories, to explore the CIO’s complicated legacy in Trail as it battled a wide range of antagonists: a powerful employer, a company union, local conservative citizens, and Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) leadership.

More than the history of a union, Smelter Wars is a cultural study of a community shaped by the dominance of a world-leading industrial juggernaut set on keeping the union drive at bay.

Ron Verzuh is a writer and historian. His previous books include Radical Rag: The Pioneer Labour Press in Canada and Underground Times: Canada’s Flower-Child Revolutionaries.

Ron Verzuh's profile page

"Smelter Wars was both a very informative book as well as a most enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in labour history, indeed, to anyone interested in BC history."

<em>BC Labour Heritage Centre Newsletter</em>

"As a former CUPE national communications director, Verzuh has synthesized an astonishing amount of detail, prompting one reader to say, ‘it’s not often a history like this is a page-turner, but this one definitely is.’"

<em>Trail Times</em>

"Smelter Wars is the story of the era. The book is wonderful."

<em>Blacklock’s Reporter</em>

"Highly detailed and requiring close concentration, Smelter Wars impresses with its depth of research."

<em>New York Labor History Association</em>

"Smelter Wars tells a fascinating tale of rebellious trade union resistance and activism in wartime Trail. This book is a riveting account of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Local 480’s) struggle against the powerful Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada."

<em>CUPE Communities</em>