Last to vote on the offer were members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) at Golden Brand, who approved the pact by a margin of 77 percent. Outside Montreal, workers at plants in St-Hyacinthe, Ste-Thérèse, and St-Césaire had also been on strike.

Approval rates among the bigger plants ranged from 67 percent to 87 percent. Picket lines at the different shops went down and workers returned to work as each local union approved the contract offer, increasing the pressure on the remaining strikers to approve the contract. Two previous offers were rejected in December by narrow margins.

In the end, workers will receive hourly wage increases of 10, 15, 20, and 30 cents in each successive year of the contract. The bosses, organized in the Men's Clothing Manufacturers Association (MCMA), withdrew two concession clauses they had demanded around vacations. One was a proposed reduction in vacation pay for workers with nine or more years of seniority.

Another clause would have allowed employers to technically fire workers who take unauthorized extended vacation time and rehire them with no seniority. This was modified to remove both a monetary penalty and the stipulation of seniority loss. Authorization for extra vacation time is normally extended to only a few workers. Many immigrant workers occasionally extend their vacation in order to travel more cheaply to their country of origin during peak summer shutdowns. These workers are usually rehired upon their return because of their skill and productivity. Others, however, can still be fired arbitrarily according to the terms of the contract. Eighty percent of union members are women and many are immigrants.

John Alleruzzo, the Canadian director of UNITE, admitted that "a 75 cent wage increase over a four-year settlement is certainly not a gold mine, but it is a gain in relation to the employers' offer of 45 cents over three years." Negotiations, he said, "were not easy," and the union was forced to "conduct them shop by shop," which had not been the case when talks started.

Union negotiators had recommended approval of all three contract offers to the ranks. During the strike union officials did not openly discourage petitions which began to be circulated by more conservative groups of workers demanding that negotiations be resumed on a plant-by-plant basis. The petition gained support among strikers at Jack Victor, under the influence of a layer of better-paid union members who are less affected by the smaller wage increases and occupy a relatively privileged position in relation to the bosses. Supporters of the petition called other workers at home to sign a petition that would "get us back to work."

As during the last strike in 1998, Jack Victor was the first company to leave the MCMA bargaining table. Once a deal had been signed there, other employers come in behind the same offer.

In informal discussions at the union hall prior to the vote, some workers thought that negotiating company by company was a better strategy. Among the 30 percent who voted against the final offer at Jack Victor, in contrast, many felt strongly that the strength of the union is in its numbers and that the workers who went out together should go back together.

Many workers doubted that more could be won from the employers given the economic recession. Many feel the pressure of unemployment, which over November and December rose from 8.9 percent to 9.7 percent in Quebec. Others said the timing of the strike, coming just before the holiday period when workers had extra bills to pay and the plants would shut down for two weeks, had contributed to the closeness of the previous two votes rejecting the contract. Weekly strike pay was CAN$75.

The bosses took advantage of the economic downturn to cry poverty. In a letter addressed to workers in the first week of the strike, they said that they could not offer more because of the deteriorating "global situation of our industry" and "lowering sales in North America for many years." In past strikes, workers were able to win salary increases of 75 cents over a three-year contract.

Many workers at Jack Victor, however, felt that more could be won if the union stayed out longer. This sentiment was also expressed by strikers on picket lines at Golden Brand, SFI, and Samuelsohn.

A presser at Golden Brand who didn't want his name used because of his immigrant status, said he voted for the contract, not because he liked it, but because like many others, he had no choice but to accept it once other shops had done so. "But we had to strike," he added, "to show the bosses that we're not afraid and that they can't do anything they want with us."

Philomena, a sewer at Jack Victor, added, "Still, four years is a long time to wait before we can fight for something better."

Sylvie Charbin is a sewing machine operator at Jack Victor and a member of UNITE Local 2581 in Montreal.  
 
 
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