Chabanel street, in the heart of Montreal, was once Canada's clothing manufacturing center. It was a bustling, hectic, manic place, where people from all over the world worked side by side.
Now, however, things have changed. Companies have closed, jobs have been lost, and the once throbbing area is mostly deserted. What happened to the heart of Canada's clothing industry?
Hi! This is a great doc! i worked in the chabanel area for 12 yrs at the corner of st-laurent and chabanel.The company is still there but the staff and workers are half gone .I remember when i first started there in 94 there was tons of material in boxes ready to be sewn ,there was barely space between the aisles to pass with my cart .That was my job bring the material to the ladies to sew.I remember my wheels would block because of the pieces of thread that would be on the floor.Work done by immigrant ladies who cut the thread and were paid by the pieces they cut by hour ,very hard job i felt sorry for them in a way.I remember when i started we were around 275 sewers and when i left in 2004 half the ladies got lay off that was so sad to see.Some ladies where old and they were not ready to retire, where are they going to find a job at that age.where i worked there were asian,italian ,greeks,haitians and some french it was a good mixture of immigrants very friendly.Some times at lunch they would bring food of their country to taste i loved it lol.I haven't been back there since 2004 but i think i will go have a look and see what's going on in that area.I leave you with the question how did this garment industry go wrong ?I think i still would of been there if it remained how it was .Bye
Comments
This was a great listen.
by Lawrence
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 03:23
This was a great listen. Good job.
very interesting! i am
by Sharon
Fri, 11/20/2009 - 04:57
very interesting! i am moving to montreal, and listened to this doc while on google street maps of the area.
Great doc!
by juki
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 00:20
Hi! This is a great doc! i worked in the chabanel area for 12 yrs at the corner of st-laurent and chabanel.The company is still there but the staff and workers are half gone .I remember when i first started there in 94 there was tons of material in boxes ready to be sewn ,there was barely space between the aisles to pass with my cart .That was my job bring the material to the ladies to sew.I remember my wheels would block because of the pieces of thread that would be on the floor.Work done by immigrant ladies who cut the thread and were paid by the pieces they cut by hour ,very hard job i felt sorry for them in a way.I remember when i started we were around 275 sewers and when i left in 2004 half the ladies got lay off that was so sad to see.Some ladies where old and they were not ready to retire, where are they going to find a job at that age.where i worked there were asian,italian ,greeks,haitians and some french it was a good mixture of immigrants very friendly.Some times at lunch they would bring food of their country to taste i loved it lol.I haven't been back there since 2004 but i think i will go have a look and see what's going on in that area.I leave you with the question how did this garment industry go wrong ?I think i still would of been there if it remained how it was .Bye
Great doc!
by Marcus
Wed, 08/19/2009 - 22:12
Great doc!
Post new comment