When a shotgun marriage to her boyfriend ends in flight to a women's shelter, Nicole Fortin needs to support herself and her child. She takes a job in a Montreal aerospace plant where women rarely work. A talented swimmer whose accidental pregnancy had ruined her Olympic dream and relations with her parents, she struggles to raise her daughter Julie, master factory work, overcome her male colleagues' scepticism, and make friends.

After joining with others to have laid-off coworkers reinstated, she is elected shop steward. When union president Paul Dufour suddenly crosses the line to management just before contract talks begin, she is urged to contest the position. Overcoming doubts about her ability, she runs, and wins, defeating the former president's chosen successor.

The company demands sweeping concessions, and a bruising battle erupts. Picket line confrontations lead to a life-threatening injury to former president Dufour, mobilisation of the riot squad, court injunctions, underhanded campaigns against Nicole's leadership, and a mysterious explosion.

A long-held secret and other events in Nicole's past threaten to destroy her credibility with her coworkers and her relationship with her daughter. Tangled workplace and family ties are stretched to the breaking point.

Nicole and her fellow workers end up with a win, at least temporarily, and her relationship with Julie moves into new territory. Glimpses of Quebec's turbulent recent labour and political history punctuate the story.

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Jim Upton worked for 25 years at a Montreal aerospace plant. In 2010, he participated in contract talks as a member of the union negotiating committee. His novel Maker draws on that experience and his years spent in the workplace. Jim Upton lives in Montreal.