The Immigrant Workers Centre initiated many actions related to the North-to-South relocation of production trend that occurred in Montreal since 2003; this tendency resulted in several job losses without proper compensation, especially affecting immigrant employees. The first accomplishment of the centre was to convince the Montreal Jazz Festival to stop selling T-shirts manufactured by Gildan because of their factory closures in Montreal and poor labour practices in locally and in Honduras. The festival consequently adopted an "ethical buying" policy. L’Amour Inc. also followed that pattern of transfers and started to close its operations in the city around 2006 and relocated its factories in South America. Over 600 jobs were lost in the process and former employees, most of whom were immigrants, did not receive compensation. In 2007, a group of workers, unexpectedly laid off by L’Amour Inc., went to the Immigrant Workers Center seeking for help. The campaign eventually expanded to include 70 workers protesting their situation and seeking compensation for years of service. In 2008, the IWC allied with the UNITE HERE union to help laid off workers of manufacturing company Golden Brand get compensation. The company eventually agreed to give $3.5 million to its 540 previous employees but, while this was a historic victory in the clothing industry, most of them still face unemployment On June 12, 2009, the IWC and former textile workers organized a rally at the National Assembly of Quebec to meet with Minister of Employment Sam Hamad and asked for better regulations and retraining programs. Although Hamad promised to remedy the situation and find employment for the laid off immigrant workers, no solutions were actually put in place.
