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Sewing Seeds: Clothing Workers Fight For Better Conditions
It was known as the rag trade: a vibrant "patchwork" of textile shops in downtown Montreal and Toronto in the 1930s. But as the Depression wore on, clothing manufacturers began to exploit workers in what were already deplorable conditions. Female immigrants sweated in dimly lit factories, working up to 70 hours a week. A large group of textile workers decided to speak out. Their courage helped improve conditions in post-Second World War garment shops, until the introduction of Free Trade and a recession decades later.

	Shedding light on the rag trade		'Tough cookies' of the Great Depression		Union organizer arrested for 'seditious conspiracy'
	Women of the schmatte recall appalling pre-union conditions. (Radio; runs 5:15)		Union pioneer Léa Roback praises textile workers for walking out during tough times. (Radio; runs 7:21)		Madeleine Parent organizes a 6,000-strong walkout. (TV; runs 5:54)

	A tour through the 'garment jungle'		The 'job ghetto' of women's work		Workers walk out over Orwellian TV monitors
	Conditions have improved for workers in Canada's garment districts, the CBC reports. (Radio; runs 7:25)		Grace Hartman, Canada's first female union leader, addresses women's wages. (TV; runs 8:14)		Managers refuse to remove surveillance cameras at a Toronto knitting factory. (TV; runs 2:31)

	First strike in 4 decades		Working at night		Favouring foreign contracts
	Management says 9,000-person strike will paralyze an already-weakened garment industry. (TV; runs 2:01)		The garment industry goes underground. (TV; runs 15:32)		Cheap Mexican labour means layoffs for workers at Bovie Manufacturing. (TV; runs 1:57)

	The homeworkers market
	An underground garment worker has her contract cut off. (TV; runs 1:52)

LINKS Topic from Les Archives de Radio-Canada on the same subject Pionnières du syndicalisme Related Topics from CBC's Archives Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement The Long Lens of the Law Tommy Douglas and the NDP CBC.ca CBC Archives: The Saskatchewan Doctors Strike CBC Archives: CBC's 'Close-Up' looks at the Saskatchewan Doctors Strike CBC Archives: Newfoundland Miners win improved health conditions CBC Archives: Canada's longest health-related strike CBC Archives: The Postal Strike of 1981 External sites Canadian Union of Public Employees: History Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees: About The CBC assumes no responsibility for the content of external links.

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