Smelter Wars, Part One

For our regular segment Another World Is Possible, Norm Diamond talks with Ron Verzuh, author of the just released book, Smelter Wars. The smelter in question is just across the Canadian border along the Columbia River, and the book covers the history of worker organizing there, from company union to Communist-led union to McCarthyism. Norm and Ron talk about the role of culture in organizing, the dilemmas posed by women workers during World War II and the choices faced historically by the non-Communist left, and different visions of radical and militant unionism. This is part one of a conversation that will be continued in the next episode of AWP.