Transcript for: The workers describe the piecework system
Anne Baranyk
The majority of the machines were on piecework.
Sadat Khan
So how much you make that much money you get.
Janet Cardinal
You would do sixty pair of pants and then you'd take this little ticket and tear it off and stick it on a piece of paper and that got handed in every evening at four o'clock when you left, and it would go into payroll and they'd count them all up and then that's how you would be paid.
If the person checking the bundle found one mistake you had to go and check the whole bundle.
Because sometimes the fabric would be a little thick, so of course the needle would skip
and you'd go back and check.
But if you didn't go back far enough and check well then those quality girls they had eagle eyes (laughs). They used to put these little pink papers on there saying, oh oh. And everybody would walk by and go, "oh oh pink, pink, you stink." (laughs).
Merlin Beharry
On all the machines had flags of different colours, indicating the performance of those operators.
If you were a trainee you had a different colour flag. When you made your 100% you got a red flag, so once you got the red flag, you've got it made.
You would change your needle and bobbins on your own time, your breaks, so it doesn't keep you back.
Because time was money.
Kulminder Bolina
You have to work hard, you have to work fast.
When you start first week or so your muscles are tired. And after that, after you work in that pace 3 or 4 weeks, it is like a normal thing. I think your muscles get used to them, and then you don't feel that much hurt.
Lillian Wasylynchuk
We couldn't complain about anything. The bundle girl brought your pieces, what you had to work, and you worked alone pretty well. To make a buck, you had to push pretty hard.
Anne Baranyk
I was so upset with that piecework because I kept asking them to get it off.
Anne Ozipko
And finally the company came to the union and said, do something, because the quality is terrible. Anne told them, well you know what to do. Get them off piecework. You think if people are on piecework, they're going to give you the quality you want?
When I was president we were negotiating when we asked for no piecework, just a plain rate.
And the first year I put it in, he looked and me and said, are you crazy? I said, why? You wanna put us out of business? I said, no I don't want to put you out of business, but I'd like to see the people have a little bit of peace here, not have to push and push. And injuries, because they get a lot of this carpel tunnel injuries. So I said, I just wanted to make it easier for the people.
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