Immigrant women's conditions of work have worsened with new government and managerial
strategies to restructure the Canadian apparel industry. Changes in occupational health
and safety legislation have both given and taken away tools that immigrant women workers
could use to improve the quality of their working lives. The author outlines a methodology
for eliciting the health and safety concerns of immigrant women workers.
References
1.
GannagéC.Union women in the garment industry respond to new managerial
strategies. Can. J. Sociol.20(4): 469–495,
1995.
2.
MerglerD.Worker participation in occupational health research: Theory and
practice. Int. J. Health Serv.
17(1): 151–167,
1987.
3.
LaurellA.
C.Participatory research on workers' health. Soc.
Sci. Med.34(6): 603–613,
1992.
4.
ThompsonE.
P.The Poverty of Theory and Other Essays. Merlin
Press, London,
1978.
5.
SaidE.Orientalism. Routledge and Kegan Paul,
London, 1978.
6.
WeedonC.Feminist Practice and Post Structuralist Theory. Basil
Blackwell, London,
1987.
7.
ReinharzS.Feminist Methods in Social Research. Oxford University
Press, Oxford,
1992.
8.
SmithD.The Everyday World as Problematic. University of Toronto
Press, Toronto,
1987.
9.
BeneriaL.RoldanM.The Crossroads of Class and Gender: Industrial Homework, Subcontracting and
Household Dynamics in Mexico City. University of Chicago
Press, Chicago,
1987.
10.
WaxR.Doing Fieldwork: Warnings and Advice. University of
Chicago Press, Chicago,
1971.
11.
GramsciA.Selections from the Prison Notebooks. International
Publishers, New York,
1971.
12.
WhyteW.
F.Street Corner Society. University of Chicago
Press, Chicago,
1965.
13.
BroughW.
R.Ergonomics report. Canadian Apparel Manufacturer
Magazine, November 18, 1994, pp.
31–33.
14.
Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto.
Hazards in textile & clothing industry. Health Alert: The Health
and Safety Newsletter of the Labour Council of Metro Toronto1(10), June 1, 1977.
15.
Price-MunnN.Hazard Inventory for Garment and Textile Workers. Centre
for Labour Studies, Humber College,
Toronto, 1979.
16.
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers
Union. Submission to the NDP Task Force on Occupational Health and
Safety. October 5, 1982.
17.
KoplinA.
N.Group practice in occupational medicine: The union
sponsored-group. Arch. Environ. Health27: 269–271,
1973.
18.
MontoneW.Noise Control Solutions for the Textile Industry.
Fairmount Press, Atlanta,
Ga., 1977.
19.
International Labour Organization.
Safety and Health in the Textile Industry, Report III.
Textiles Committee, Ninth Session.
Geneva, 1973.
20.
NordP.Men's Apparel Industrywide Study: Hutch Sporting Goods; Maxwell and Rothschild;
Colebrook Mills; Sandy lee Manufacturing; Harry I. Siegel; Salant and Salant; Imperial
Reading. Environmental Investigations Branch, Division of Field Studies and
Clinical Investigations, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, September
1974 to January 1975.
21.
National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health. Health Hazard Evaluation Reports, No. 75-143-333,
September 1976; No. 79-41-594, May 1979; No. 81-032-1174, September 1982; No.
82-200-1233, November 1982. U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Public Health Service Center for Disease Control,
Bethesda, Md., 1976–1982.
22.
A. M. Best Company. Best's
Loss Control Engineering Manual. Oldwick,
1982.
23.
BouhuysA.Byssinosis: Scheduled asthma in the textile industry.
Lung154: 3–16,
1976.
24.
ValicF.ZuskinE.Respiratory-function changes in textile workers exposed to synthetic
fibers. Arch. Environ. Health32(6): 283–287,
1977.
25.
PimentalJ.
C.Respiratory disease caused by synthetic fibres: A new occupational
disease. Thorax30: 204–287,
1975.
26.
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare. Irritant Effects of Industrial Chemicals:
Formaldehyde. Washington, D.C., July
1976.
27.
JenkinsC.
L.Textile dyes are potential hazards. J. Environ.
Health40(5): 256–263,
1978.
28.
Dooms-GoossensA.Dimethylthiourea, an unexpected hazard for textile workers.
Contact Dermatitis5: 367–370,
1979.
29.
GreenburgL.Health hazards in the manufacture of “fused collars.” II. Exposure to
acetone-methanol. J. Ind. Hygiene Toxicol.
20: 148–154,
1938.
30.
LaunisJ.LaineA.Toxic dermatitis in a Finnish textile factory.
Contact Dermatitis6: 51, 1980.
31.
MiyashitaK.A study on occupational cervicobrachial disorder among female sewing
machine operators in a small scale industry. Wakayama Med.
Rep.23: 81–88,
1980.
32.
VihmaT.Sewing machine operators' work and musculo-skeletal
complaints. Ergonomics25(4): 295–298,
1982.
33.
International Ladies Garment Workers'
Union. Wrist strain leads to “Carpal Syndrome.”Justice, May 1981.
34.
WolpowE.No rest from the wrist: The carpal tunnel syndrome.
Harvard Med. School Health Letter9(10): 3–5,
1984.
35.
GronemanL.Carpal tunnel syndrome can be lessened with early
treatment. Occup. Health Safety54(10): 39–46,
1985.
36.
LewchukW.Human Centred Benchmarking: Work Reorganization and the Quality of Work Life in
the Clothing, Textile, Primary Textile, Box, Paper, Aluminum, Electrical and Electronic
Products Sectors. Ontario Federation of
Labour, North York, Ont., August
1997.
37.
LamondeF.MontreuilS.Work, ergonomics and industrial relations.
Relations Industrielles50(4): 719–740,
1995.
38.
TeigerC.BernierC.Ergonomic analysis of work activity of data entry clerks in the
computerized service sector can reveal unrecognized skills.
Women Health18(3): 67–77,
1992.
39.
Putz-AndersenV.
(ed.). Cumulative Trauma Disorders: A Manual for Musculoskeletal Diseases of the
Upper Limbs. National Institute for National Safety and
Health, Cincinnati, Ohio,
1992.
40.
VezinaN.When is light work heavy? Components of the physical workload of sewing
machine operators working at piece rates. Appl. Ergon.23(4): 268–276,
1992.
41.
StellmanJ.
M.Women's Work, Women's Health: Myths and Realities.
Pantheon Books, New
York, 1977.
42.
PriceL.Severity of myocardial infarction in garment workers.
J. Occup. Med.1(3): 150–154,
1959.
43.
LippelK.Watching the watchers: How expert witnesses and decision-makers perceive
men's and women's workplace stressors. In Invisible: Issues in
Women's Occupational Health, edited by MessingK.,
pp. 265–291. Gynergy Books,
Charlottetown, P.E.I.,
1995.
44.
MessingK.Don't use a wrench to peel potatoes: Biological science constructed on male
model systems is a risk to women workers' health. In Changing
Methods: Feminists Transforming Practice, edited by BurtS.CodeL., pp.
217–263. Broadview Press,
Peterborough, Ont., 1995.
45.
ArmstrongP.Women and health: Challenges and changes. In
Feminist Issues: Race, Class and Sexuality, edited by MandellN.,
pp. 294–314. Prentice-Hall,
Scarborough, Ont., 1995.
46.
LoweG.Women, Paid/Unpaid Work, and Stress: New Directions for Research.
Background paper. Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of
Women, Ottawa,
1989.
47.
JohnsonL.
C.The Seam Allowance: Industrial Home Sewing in Canada.
Women's Educational Press,
Toronto, 1982.
48.
LeachB.“Flexible” work, precarious future: Some lessons from the Canadian clothing
industry. Can. Rev. Sociol. Anthropol.30(1): 64–82,
1993.
49.
KeithM.Protecting Our Health: Immigrant Women, Work and Awareness: A Report on the
Occupational Health and Safety Concerns Confronting Immigrant Women in Windsor and Essex
County. Windsor Occupational Health Information
Service, Windsor, Ont., June
1995.
50.
MillsC.
W.The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University
Press, New York,
1969.
GannagéC.Pedagogy of a garment union: Developing language leaders.
Participatory Research Newsletter4(1): 19–21,
1986.
53.
GannagéC.Toronto garment workers stick to their guns.
Canadian Dimension, December/January 1986/87, pp.
32–33.
54.
BorowyJ.Are these clothes clean? The campaign for fair wages and working conditions
for homeworkers. In And Still They Rise: Feminist Political
Mobilizing in Canada, edited by CartyL.,
pp. 299–330. Women's Press,
Toronto, 1993.
55.
YalnizyanA.From the DEW line: The experience of Canadian garment
workers. In Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, Democracy and
Militancy, edited by BriskinL.McDermottP.,
pp. 284–303. University of Toronto
Press, Toronto,
1993.
56.
GannagéC.Restructuring and retraining: The Canadian garment industry in
transition. In Women Encounter Information Technology: Changing
Patterns of Employment in the Third World, edited by MitterS.RowbothamS.,
pp. 127–149. Routledge and United Nations
University Press, London,
1995.
57.
DaggA.Trade Union Response to Global Restructuring: The Case of the International
Ladies' Garment Workers Union. Working Paper #5. Centre for
Research on Work and Society, York University, North
York, Ont., 1993.
58.
Have you heard about the 24-hour
inventory replenishment system? [advertorial feature]. Style:
Canada's Fashion News, June 1998, pp.
24–25.
59.
GannagéC.Changing dimensions of control and resistance: The Toronto garment
industry. J. Can. Stud.24(4): 41–60,
1989–90.
60.
Canadian Apparel Federation and Union of
Needletrades. Industrial and Textile Employees Human Resources Needs
Analysis of the Canadian Apparel Industry, pp.
511–513. November 1997.
61.
MitterS.Common Fate, Common Bond: Women in the Global Economy.
Pluto Press, London,
1986.
62.
Infante-RivardC.Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia among Spanish children and mothers'
occupation: A case control study. J. Epidemiol. Community
Health45: 11–15,
1991.
63.
VinetA.Piecework, repetitive work and medicine use in the clothing
industry. Soc. Sci. Med.28(12): 1283–1288,
1989.
64.
BrissonC.Health problems of women employed in jobs involving psychological and
ergonomic stressors: The case of garment workers in Quebec.
Women Health18(3): 49–65,
1992.
65.
WaltersV.Occupational health and safety legislation in Ontario: An analysis of its
origins and content. Can. Rev. Sociol. Anthropol.20(4): 413–434,
1983.
66.
Workplace Health and Safety Agency.
News release. Toronto, January 3,
1995.
67.
Unilateral stop-work regulation
proposed. At the Agency: The Newsletter of the Workplace Health and
Safety Agency4(6): 8,
1994.
68.
Overheard: IRS [Internal Responsibility
System] is working. At the Agency: The Newsletter of the Workplace
Health and Safety Agency4(5): 5,
1994.
69.
Workers' health & safety centre under
threat. Focus: The Ontario Federation of Labour's Bi-Weekly
Newsletter, April 24, 1996, p. 1.