“If we could make more things in the US, we would. [J. crew is] a large company and one of the problems is that there is no place to go in the US” explains Jenna Lyons, J. Crew’s creative director.
Les Confections de Beauce (CDB), the last remaining unionized jean manufacturer in all of North America, will be closing its doors. Like countless others in the Canadian apparel industry, CDB has had to put up a strong fight to survive the competition of low-wage labour in the post-Free Trade era.
CDB’s 177 employees represent 5% of Saint-Come-Liniere’s population and its closure will have a devastating impact on their families and community as a whole. Indeed, the Beauce region of Quebec relies heavily on small to medium sized manufacturing enterprises.
This past February, after more than five years of working together, retailer J. Crew pulled-out of the agreement made for 2010. Scott Hyatt, senior vice-president of manufacturing at J. Crew, explained that production would be moving to Asia – where already 86% of their clothing is produced – in an effort to save on costs.
Support CDB’s employees and the town of Saint-Come-Liniere, Quebec!
Send an email to Millard Drexler, CEO of J.Crew, by filling out the boxes below!
If you are a member of an organization interested in supporting this campaign, click here to download a template of our letter.
Gap Inc. Can Keep Canada Working: Why can’t J. Crew?
“Over the past few years, Workers United has been collaborating with Gap Inc. on different approaches to help keep garment production in the United States and Canada. By doing so together, we are helping to keep better-paying manufacturing jobs in North America during a particularly volatile economic environment. We strongly believe that these efforts positively impact workers in the communities in which Gap Inc. has retail operations”
– Alex Dagg, Canadian Director of Workers United
Gap Inc. has collaborated with Workers United to help keep Canadian garment workers working. The result has been to preservation of over 200 jobs in Ontario and Quebec. If The Gap can afford to have their denim, among other Gap Inc. products, produced in Canada, why can’t J. Crew?
The Exploitation of Garment Workers: Who is Responsible?
Apparel manufacturers, in an effort to remain part of global supply chains, have been competing with one another to offer to lowest possible productions costs to retailers like J. Crew. Doing so has meant sacrificing the quality of the jobs they provide as well as the rights of their employees. Those who have refused to do so, like CDB, are being excluded and in turn, forced to shut down.
The Time to Act is Now
In the past four years, over 40,000 apparel manufacturing jobs have been lost in Canada. In the last decade, unionized manufacturing jobs have disappeared twice as quickly as non-unionized jobs in Canada. Quebec is home to nearly 50% of the Canadian apparel industry’s labour force, and accounts for 55% of the value of all apparel manufacturing in Canada. It is our responsibility to ensure that what is left of the industry in Quebec is protected, its workers rights upheld and the well-being of their communities sustained.
If we do not take action now and stand up for Canadian workers’ rights and the employers who respect them, we may not have the opportunity to do so again.
For more information and/or to get involved in this campaign, please contact Natasha Busic at: nbusic@workersunitedunion.ca
