Tuesday May 7, 2013
For Immediate Release
Mount Forest, ON – Members of IAM Local Lodge 1975 have ratified a new collective agreement with Ludachris Hats.
The three-year agreement provides wage increases of 1.5 per cent in the first and second year and 2 per cent in the third year. The agreement also contains the implementation of a new shift schedule proposed by the membership.
Ludachris Hats approached the IAM to organize its workers in 2006 after other members of the Canadian labour movement rejected the garment manufacturer because its workforce was too small. “The size of a bargaining unit has never been a problem for the Machinists,” explained IAM District Lodge 78 Business Representative Derek Ferguson. “One of the best methods of promoting your union is through the use of ball caps with your logo on it and it was getting difficult to find a unionized Canadian manufacturer. With Ludachris, we have secured a Canadian supplier and we represent their workers.”
The seven members perform all facets of hat making from cutting material, sewing eyelets into the crown, seaming the bill, stuffing the liner and operating the computerized embroidery machine to steaming the hat on the press head.
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For further information:
Derek Ferguson – IAM District Lodge 78 Business Representative
416-225-9003/519-807-3106
Bill Trbovich – IAM Director of Communications
416-386-1789 ext#6331/416-735-9765