Venue: Le Jardin Papillon (9300 rue Meilleur, Montréal, Québec, H4N 3J7) Date: October 3, 2026 Time: 2:00 PM
The poster series was organized by Stefan Christoff and Lauren Laframboise, in partnership with Josh MacPhee and the Justseeds Celebrate People’s History Poster Series, Canadian Committee on Labour History and Deindustrialization and the Politics of Our Time.
Join us at Jardin Papillon for the launch of the “Chabanel on Strike” poster series, which documents three moments when workers at companies in the Chabanel area pushed back against their employers. Each designed by a different Montreal artist, the posters highlight the 1983 Garment Workers’ Strike (Lisa Czech), the 2008 Justice for Lamour Workers campaign (Chris Robertson), and the 2024 Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ Strike (Guy Incognito). The event will feature short interventions from the artists as well as the organizers involved in the campaigns. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
This is an outdoor event. In case of rain, the event will take place the following day at the same time and place, October 4 at 2pm.
About the Poster Project:
Built in the 1950s and 1960s, Montreal’s garment district was home to thousands of businesses that made Montreal the capital of clothing manufacturing in Canada. Every day, tens of thousands of people made their way to this industrial area in the middle of the city to make the clothes that people across the country bought and wore on a daily basis. But, starting in the 1970s, as a result of changing trade policy, the Canadian garment industry began its slow decline, which meant that thousands of people lost their jobs in this once-bustling industry.
Over the last few decades, Montreal’s garment district has changed considerably. Though commonly known as “Chabanel,” the Ville de Montreal has attempted to rebrand the neighbourhood as “La Cité de la Mode”. There are far fewer garment manufacturers, and many of the former industrial spaces have been converted to offices for insurance, real estate, and tech companies, as well as many logistics companies which use the buildings for warehousing and distribution, including Canada Post. Most recently, artist studios have begun to move into Chabanel, searching for cheaper rents after studios in areas like Mile End became more and more expensive.
However, what has remained the same across these many decades of change in Chabanel is it has always been a place where people have fought for better working conditions. This poster series highlights three labour struggles that have marked the history of Chabanel: the 1983 Garment Workers’ Strike, the 2007-8 Immigrant Workers’ Center Campaign for Lamour Workers, and most recently, the 2024 Canadian Union of Postal Workers Strike.