The Rag Trade..............

I'm not just a blogger.

John and I also have a fabric business - we represent European textile mills for the North American market.

It was a great business for a long time.....................until China took over the market and customers now, for the most part, " knock off " European patterns and have their clothing lines produced in China.

Montreal was Canada's equivalent to the U.S.'s Manhattan for the " schmatta " or " rag trade " as it used to be known in the industry.  The ironic thing is, it was called the rag trade when clothing was actually being produced in North America - when quality control meant something - when people took pride in the finished product - when a small piece of fabric sewn into the interior of a garment stating " made in Canada " or in your case " Made in the USA "  was a " given ",

Now that it's made in China or India -  and is clearly inferior ( in most cases - certainly not in all - but it's safe to say in most ) it's the Textile Industry.

I loved everything about this industry..............from the bolts of fabric to the design rooms - from the cutting rooms to the sewing tables.............but mostly I loved the atmosphere in the factories. In Montreal it was mostly Italian first generations that ran the factories and these people had such a sense of pride in the work they did.

They sang, they hummed, they screamed, they fought and they laughed. A lot.  They brought life to the old brick buildings that housed them.  They sat at their machines from 7.30 in the morning until 4.30 in the afternoon - making beautiful garments.  And through their efforts they bought homes - educated their children and took trips back to Italy. Often.  These people were the back bone of an amazing fast paced energized thriving industry.

I would sit in the office sometimes giggling away at their antics - as they forced home made delicious meals upon the young office staff.

Most of these companies were owned by 2nd and 3rd generation families - Jewish families - that started off as a tailor working from his cold water flat here in the city - fleeing from a war torn Europe - they worked until they were able to bring their families over - they worked until they were able to build their businesses up,  they hired hundreds of thousands of immigrants and were a real force in this city.
We actually had MILLS in this province - as I know many Southern States did - where North American fabric was made.

I'm in my 50's now - I know that everything changes - it's the way of the world - we must always be evolving  

as a people -  and as a planet - but I also know that some things simply shouldn't.  And that losing this sector was not a good thing.  Not a good thing at all. When hundreds of thousands -  millions actually - are left scrambling around looking for an alternative job because in the the middle of their earning years - their job is made redundant because a factory in India or China was able to to reduce production by 75%.  This is NOT evolution - this is regression.
For me this was the biggest sin committed against the North American people ( of both Countries ).
What built up our middle class was completely wiped out with both our governments standing idly by while companies scrambled to find cheaper methods of production.  This was not a " left " or " right " decision either - both sides of politics share equal blame in this.
Sears almost single handedly destroyed a company I worked at for many years - a 3 generation company - a thriving manufacturer of higher end ladies coats - while I worked there they employed 180 factory employees and well over 200 in total employees - ( and that amount was already almost half of what it had once been )  I took care of payroll and watched over the course of 10 years or so the dwindling names on my weekly list.
There were hundreds if not thousands of factories here in Montreal - and these were not the sweatshops of the old days - these were Union run clean honest factories that filled a social need of keeping people EMPLOYED.  Of keeping people with enough earning power to keep the rest of the spokes in the wheel turning...............to keep a city - a province - a country - a continent with a strong middle class base.

The company I worked at was forced to close it's doors - it just couldn't compete - and could not offer the same high quality by having the coats imported.  After 80 years - 3 generations - and a reputation as one of the best in North America - the doors closed - and the building now houses condos.  I watched as one by one people lined up to receive their last pay cheques - tears in their eyes taking them - tears in my eyes giving them - tears in the bosses eyes as they shook hands with them and thanked each one individually for the work they had done over the years.

This was a good thing?

I personally chose to not shop at Sears - I personally chose to boycott Walmart's - but at this stage I'd be walking around naked if I boycotted every business who prefers to resort to slave labor.  ( and I'd be driving around in a horse and buggy ) You simply can't beat a dead horse I suppose -

And you most certainly cannot beat a dead employee now can you?
After all at 14 cents an hour they're not such a great loss?
Even when it's 400 human beings - they can most definitely be replaced can't they?
Have a look at progress folks........................

BANGLADESH CLOTHING FACTORY COLLAPSES KILLING OVER 400 EMPLOYEES

Heartbreaking - on too many levels,
And it will fall into the archives of yesterday's news before we know it.
" MADE IN BANGLADESH "
" MADE IN INDIA "
" MADE IN CHINA "
For 14 cents an hour.