Shame on Bain: Boston Rally Supports Canada Goose Workers Against Union Busting at Bain Capital

By Grace Pham & Luca Rogoff, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice Interns

Labor movement groups from all over Boston poured into the block outside Bain Capital’s Copley Square headquarters on Wednesday to support Canadian garment workers in their fight for collective bargaining. Massachusetts Jobs with Justice gathered with members from UNITE HERE, Greater Boston Labor Council, Harvard Graduate Students Union, and the Boston DSA to amplify the voices of Canada Goose workers from across the border where they are experiencing union busting and intimidation in the workplace all the way to Bain’s offices. 

Canada Goose, whose majority share is owned by Bain Capital as of 2013, has branded itself as a luxury goods provider and connected with supporters of environmental sustainability. The company claims its commitment to high manufacturing and labor standards and denies anti-union activity, but production workers state that Canada Goose retaliated against them for supporting a union. After the company’s rapid expansion, over 1,000 workers in the three new factories in Winnipeg, a majority of them being immigrant women of color, are not covered by an old collective bargaining agreement and have not been unionized unlike workers in Toronto factories. They are in the midst of a campaign to unionize with the SEIU affiliate Workers United.

Despite the company’s statement to VICE World News about a guaranteed minimum wage for their workers and compliance to regional and federal regulations and requirements about breaks, workers have complained about unfair wages and unsafe labor practices in factories. They are paid less than $500 a week as their pay is about $9.65 per hour. Canada Goose sewers expressed that the number of pieces of clothing that a worker had to complete could fluctuate on account of the company’s quota system, causing many workers to sew pieces for eight hours with no breaks. Many of these people work in environments where they feel threatened, marginalized, and taken advantage of because of their immigrant status. Although many fear the risk of losing their job or facing more mistreatment if they share their experiences as a Canada Goose worker, some have spoken out about incidents of discrimination and harassment during work. A Filipino worker recalled a company manager shouting at her and raising her fist when she began to talk with her fellow worker. Similarly, while another worker was fixing her machine, she faced abuse from her manager who yelled at her and told her that she would not be paid for lost time.

The inadequate working conditions of these workers have exacerbated ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last March. They spoke out about the lack of health and safety protocols and PPE provided by Canada Goose, refuting the company’s statement about their priority of reducing COVID-19 transmissions within their facilities across Canada. Workers were only given two disposable masks to use over the course of several months and one bottle of hand sanitizer for over 700 workers in a facility. Highly touched surfaces were not cleaned frequently and workers received cuts in their pay and work breaks for the time spent washing their hands. Moreover, there was no reliable system in place to investigate reported COVID-19 cases within facilities and determine who needed to be tested and quarantined. 

The workers’ message travelled through Richard Bensinger, former AFL-CIO organizing director who is partnering with workers on the Canada Goose campaign. More speakers including Jesse Mermell, District 7 City Council candidate Angie Comacho, and mayoral candidate Michelle Wu affirmed Boston’s commitment to fighting for the dignity and safety of Canada Goose workers, and the obligation we have to resist exploitative labor practices being exported from our city out of Bain’s headquarters. Speeches were followed by a picket to call attention to Bain’s shameful practices and the end to union busting at the Canada Goose plants. MassJwJ will continue to move in solidarity with the garment workers as they fight for union recognition. In the words of Mitchell Fallon, UNITE HERE New England Joint Board organizer, “we are firm believers that the union movement has to stand in solidarity no matter where you are in the world. We can’t support working people in silos. When Bain Capital attacks working people in Canada, that’s something nobody should stand for.”

Sources:

The American Prospect, Boston’s Anti-Bain Backlash, June 30, 2021. 

Vice, Canada Goose Workers Allege Unsafe Working Conditions in Winnipeg Factories, January 14, 2021

The New York Times, Canada Goose’s Image Is Challenged by Union Effort, July 1, 2021