Monday, January 22, 2007

Eaton's Employees

A bit of news. I f you know anyone that worked for Eaton's....pass on the info.
 

Eaton's went out of business in 1999, ending an era in Canadian retailing history.

The Toronto law firm acting on behalf of 30,000 former Eaton's employees and retirees in the company's insolvency proceedings says it's looking for almost 6,000 people who have not yet received their share of $1.1 million up for grabs.

Those who think they might be eligible for the money must make a claim by the July 13 cut-off date, when the money will return to a liquidator and then be paid to other creditors, Hatnay said.

There is no set amount of money involved because each claim is based on the years worked and other conditions, he added.

14 comments:

dannyb--1 MSN said...

Hi Maggie, My mother is retired from Eaton's and the amount of money they give people is not worth the postage stamps. They give them a little here and there, and when I say a little I mean maybe 1 or 2 hundered dollars. The retired employees lost their 15% and 20% discount that was worth more than a few hundred dollars each year for the rest of their lives. My mother had 20 some years service I believe. The employees all got ripped off.

maggiemck MSN said...

This is monies from a lawsuit. It won't be a large amount but if she is entitled, it might be more than that 52 cent stamp. Of course, the article does not mention who to contact. That could be a challenge.

les__f MSN said...

MaggieMck,.....I think this is great news for ex-Eatons employees,... Better late than never,..I just hope that there are enough of them around to collect,....as I always thought that it was the 'law' to make sure the employee's were looked after first,......I really hope many of them still around get something to help them,....but I guess we are all subject to Free Enterprise,....and when a company cannot compete anymore,then we have to change with the times,......Will the public be as caring when a Wal-Mart finally is overtaken,...or a Costco closes,......???? I doubt it,....but the employee's always are the first to be hurt,...that is the shame of it:   I hadn't read this news yet,..so thanks for posting it ,.as I think we have a few members here ,who have family who can gain something from this..... I hope anyway........Good Luck to them all

maggiemck MSN said...

The "estates" of Eaton's employees are also eligible. (I did not paste the whole article) Here is today's story from cbc.ca: http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Bell.Sympatico.CMS/Print.aspx?type=feed&lang=en&feedname=cbc-business-v2&newsitemid=eatons

shirleybh2 MSN said...

My sister in law who died about 2 years ago had worked for Eatons for 50+ years.

sweet_n_gorgeous_anna MSN said...

  Hello Maggie !             I started to work part-time at Eaton's when I was in the Tenth grade, and Eleventh    after school on  Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays back then. After Graduation ,    I continued , and went to University for some night courses.    I worked almost thirty years at Eaton's in all kinds of Departments, in  the   Buyer's  office when it was on the seventh floor, Sales, Accounts Office,   Cosmetics , Collection Department, then the last fourteen years in charge of Men's wear on the main floor.    It was quite sad when it closed down, but many things had changed, and the atmosphere of the store was not the same. I think after the Eaton's mother died, the boys lost interest !     They would come down Xmas every year , not always the same brothers, and shake the hands of all the employees.  The store took awhile to do some major changes, and they somehow waited to long to change with the times. Sad but true !   Believe you me, I was part of the employees who worked there very hard for many years. The Early years were really great , and Fantastic, the memories are good . Do not get me wrong. .     So when Eaton's went Bankrupt, and all went to Court which I think took two Years. Judge Farley and the Liquidators finally settled everything , we got a letter in the mail telling us of all that went on .     You would recieve a small amount of money, handled of course by the   HRDC  first, I may not have that right sorry, and from there they would take the largest deductions, and then they would mail us our small amount every six months or once a year, however long it took when they finished processing the proceeds, so we did not get any fantastic amount of money, believe you me !!!!! It was a farce, and still is ! Some employees ended getting no cheque at all and a letter explaining what was deducted and the reason there was no return left.      The amount of money they announced on the Television is for the unclaimed money from former Employees who may now be deceased, or people who have moved, or just people who cannot be located.  It is , or will be sent out to the Individual Employees's Estates providing that the families involved  ( that are trying to claim ) have the former Employee's Number, along with the proof that they are related to that former employee, presumably their Social Insurance as well, they will not hand out the cash just like that . .     So any Former Employees out there, do not hold your Breath, if you do get money, you will get a letter in the mail from Koskie Minsky Group of Solicitors, and Barristers In Toronto. The company here that deals with this for us former Employees are Richter & Partners here in Montreal .        Just a bit of information !     Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna   ( Former Eaton's Employee )   

the lad MSN said...

Hi   Great place. Remember xmas taking train around toy dept. Then see Santa and got a small gift to boot. Hated it when they dropped the "S" from the name. I worked there one xmas as well back in 69-70.Shrink wrapping the fine China in boxes for shipment.We used a machine that produced heat to melt the plastic packaging. Remember my boss had a picture of his daughter on his desk and I asked the guy I was working with who she was because she kinda looked familar. Turns out she was the wife of the great actor Mr.Sidney Poither. She was also an actress but not on large scale. Just goes to show what a small world it is. Anyone out there have any star sightings...?   Lad

shirleybh2 MSN said...

Sweet N Gorgeous Anna - did you know an Eileen Boulton - she was a buyer for the Children's wear in her younger days and used to travel to Toronto a lot in those days - then I think all the buying was no longer handled in Montreal and she was just perhaps a supervisor in the Children's dept.  Having Eatons go bankrupt would have been very distressful to her after 50 years of continuous full time working for them.

sweet_n_gorgeous_anna MSN said...

 Good Morning ShirleyBH2,         Oh Yes I did Know Eileen Boulton,  after she left I worked in the Children's Buying office , and the Man who replaced her was Donald Stewart, and three other buyers.         Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna 

sweet_n_gorgeous_anna MSN said...

    Hello Dannyb--1     What you say is true, lucky to have a hundred dollars clear ! We also lost what we paid in our Health Benefits as well, never got a cent of that either.       Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna

dannyb--1 MSN said...

Hi Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna, They did rip off the employees. My mother worked in the ticketing on the 4th floor for years. She was sent a letter telling her that her job was done away with while she was off with a work injury to her hand. The pension plan was another joke. Way behind the times. Danny

sweet_n_gorgeous_anna MSN said...

  Hello Lad !            I just re-read your letter, sometimes I miss a few. You are right about the boss's daughter . His Daughter was Joanna Shimkus who is married to Sydney Poitier. Her Dad use to be in charge of that department if I am not mistaken, his Name Shimkus, but I cannot for the like of me remember the first name sorry .                   Now that you mentioned that, many years ago , I was out with my Girlfiend,           shopping in the Alexis Nihon Plaza, then they had the Miracle Mart where           Zeller's is presently. A beautiful lady was folding some sweaters, and she           was very pretty, she asked if she could help us. I noticed the name on her           Badge it was Shimkus . I did notice a resemblance to her daughter. I always            kept to date on Hollywood Gossip, and movie stars back then , still love it            today actually since I love movies.            I asked her politely is she related to a Johanna Shimkus, and she proudly said          "Yes, she is my daughter !" I told her I knew of her, and thought she was beautiful just like herself . She told me that she was married to Sydney Poitier, a very pleasant woman, I shall never forget that ! She chatted with us, and was surprised I knew of her daughter, so it is a small world. My girlfriend Carol asked how I knew ,            I told her I recognized the last name. A very pleasant experience.                       Working at Eaton's I did get to see a lot of different celebrities. I served            Prime Minister Trudeau who came in for a shirt, very pleasant and polite !            Some other sightings were Actor Stephen Collins, Isabella Rossilini, Celine            Dion, Rene Simard, Claude Ryan, Michele Richard, Charles Aznavour, and a            few others, Mila Mulrooney and so on and so forth. These are just a few that            come to mind right now.               Enjoy the Gossip , ha, ha,ha !              Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna

the lad MSN said...

Hi Sweet & Gorgeous   I think his first name was Joe. Also did you know Mr.Crabbe who I think was in charge and scared the employees when he walked by.Or at least got their attention.   Lad

sweet_n_gorgeous_anna MSN said...

  Good Evening Lad !                  Yes , I remember the name Crabbe but for the likes of me cannot remember what he looked like ?           I also Remember Another Boss who Everyone was scared of , Peter Witmeur ! ( He Is now Deceased I was told )                    Sweet_N_Gorgeous Anna