Labour in the Shadows

Produced by Stefan Christoff Mixed and edited by Joseph Sannicandro This special edition of the RAAH Podcast highlights audio from a walking tour in the spring of 2024 that took place in the Chabanel district in Montréal, a key centre of both the textile industry in the city and labour organizing of immigrant textile workers. This event took place in collaboration with the Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC). The walking tour included a gathering with cultural performances, including works by musician Philippe Battikha and sound artist Martín Rodríguez. From the walking tour we hear from mural artist Hélène Guay [Helenka (LNK)] who presented a public mural project in the Chabanel district painted to honour Italian women immigrant workers. Also in this podcast we hear key excerpts of oral history interviews co-facilitated by Stefan Christoff and Lauren Laframboise. The interview excerpts include the voices of Joey Calugay, Mostafa Henaway, Yumna Siddiqi and Bita Mary Eslami, who have all been deeply involved in the IWC and particularly the campaign to support garment sector workers in Chabanel district who were unjustly dismissed by garment manufacturer Lamour. The original long format interview series is available through the Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time portal here. The official podcast of the Raah Lab of Media and Migration, based out of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.