We are really excited to share the latest contribution to the Graphic History Project, The Days of Action: The Character of Class Struggle in 1990s Ontario.
Illustrated by Orion Keresztesi, written by Doug Nesbitt and Sean Carleton, and augmented by an introduction by David Camfield, The Days of Action comic book examines the popular uprisings that occurred across Ontario during the 1990s known as “The Days of Action,” and explains the lessons they hold for oppositional organizing today.
The comic book concludes by reminding us that “we must push our union leaders and politicians of all parties to establish more radical strategies for social change, and if they don’t do it, we must take action ourselves.”
David Camfield teaches Labour Studies and Sociology at the University of Manitoba, and is the author of Canadian Labour in Crisis: Reinventing the Workers’ Movement. During the Days of Action he was a CUPE activist.
Sean Carleton is an activist and educator living in Nogojiwanong, Peterborough, Ontario, Anishinaabe Territory. He is a PhD Candidate at Trent University, a founding member of the Graphic History Collective, and member of CUPE 3908 and the Industrial Workers of the World.
Orion Keresztesi is inspired by the history of working people’s struggles—how they have shaped the world we live in, and help us to do the same today. He is a proud member of CUPE 1281 and currently serving as the Communications Officer on the local’s executive.
Doug Nesbitt is an organizer for SEIU Local 2 and an editor at RankandFile.ca. He is writing a history of the Ontario Days of Action for his PhD in History at Queen’s University.
What I’ve been saying for years already. I’m a veteran of the “Days of Action.” The only thing to add is that this needs to happen right across the country this time!