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While class and class consciousness are highlighted by the authors (the conservative, often anti-union mentality, of rural small-town southwestern Ontario is compared to the more militant community of Iroquois Falls),[Anthony Winson] and [Belinda Leach] also note the importance of at least two other structural factors: age and gender. Many women were able to find relatively well-paying stable jobs in the manufacturing plants in southern Ontario, allowing them a measure of independence that many lamented when they lost their jobs after having worked for several decades. Because of their familial responsibilities, including the care of children and/or elderly parents and relatives, women were not as mobile as many of the men. Thus, for women, contingent labour meant finding part-time minimum-wage work in the service sector (like fast food restaurants and grocery stores) or looking after the children of other …