Oct 08

Axed Lamour workers are still fighting for help – Montreal Gazette

Montreal, October 9, 2008 – The Immigrant Workers Centre went to bat again yesterday for the more than 500 Lamour Inc. textile workers who have lost jobs since 2006.

Centre lawyer Alexandra Law and two of the affected employees met with a pair of aides for Employment Minister Sam Hamad at his office in Old Montreal during a noon-hour demonstration by about 60 of those workers and their supporters.

The three-person delegation presented the officials with a list of three demands: a year of compensation for every five years worked; a public inquiry into Lamour’s labour conditions and practices; and that Lamour file a notice of collective dismissal that would enable the workers to access the province’s special employment compensation program to bridge the gap between employment insurance and finding new work.

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Most of the apparel-maker’s production has been moved to plants in China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

Hamad press aide Alexandre Boucher confirmed from Quebec City that the Employment and Social Solidarity Department “is working with (the primarily immigrant workers) and will analyze the situation in order to offer them the best services.”

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