The 300 workers at Republic Windows and Doors have vowed to continue their occupation of the factory until they get the pay and benefits they are owed. Today they have some new new allies:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said this morning the state of Illinois "will suspend doing any business with Bank of America" … the state has "hundreds of millions of dollars" in dealings with the bank.
"Attorney General Lisa Madigan has opened an investigation," and Sen. Durbin visited with the workers and said "he would returning to Washington soon to hold discussions about whether banks were using the bailout money appropriately."
"It was money to be invested back in America. Cutting off the loans to Republic and losing hundreds of jobs as a result of it is exactly the opposite of what we need to have in this economy."
Gapers Block points to a report on Bloomberg that "Cook County Board Commissioner and potential candidate for Rahm Emanuel’s 5th District seat Mike Quigley:
Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley will introduce an ordinance to block the state’s biggest county from doing business with Bank of America, he said in an interview. "I’m usually cautious, but this is an extraordinary example at an extraordinary time," Quigley said. "When you talk theory, they nod and wink, but when you put in an ordinance, they know you are serious."
Yesterday, President-Elect Obama spoke up for the workers, today Rep. Gutierrez held a meeting with the workers, their union, the company (who finally showed up) and Bank of America. Reports of what went on in the closed door meeting aren’t available but Gutierrez afterwards said "There was a tone of reconciliation, a tone of wanting to find an end to this situation."
We can show our support too – sign the Jobs with Justice petition to Bank of America here.
Tonight, the workers remain at the factory:
"There are hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of windows in this company which are ready to be delivered [that] these workers worked to manufacture, [and] they’re not getting paid," [Leah] Fried [of the worker’s union] told Rodriguez. "All they’re simply doing is placing a lien for their work and saying let’s respect the law.
"They worked real hard," she said. "We have workers here 34 years. They made this company the success that it is. And on the eve of Christmas, they shouldn’t simply be thrown out on the street. And if the federal government can’t intervene to protect these workers, then I think we’re failing in our main obligation."
And how long will they stay at the plant? "As long as it takes."
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Digg!
Dugg!!
Never mind! Eureka Springs has the Digg.
I’m hoping all these pols going on record in support of the workers at Republic helps their cause. I suspect there are workers in similar situations all across the country and I hope it helps them too. If banks that have been bailed out aren’t willing to extend credit the Feds should pull their plug and let them go down the drain.
Whoops.. this is the digg which works at the top of the post.
Interesting..I could not bring up Republic’s web site.
Yep … while it’s clearly in their self-interest to support the workers, its great if if helps – and if this opens the push for action for all the others.
This sit in strike is important to me….. in 1935-36 my grandfather and two great uncles participated in the Flint Michigan sit down strike which formed the UAW….. My father at the age of 11 remembers going with his other uncles to sneak food into the strikers through the back windows…… which was very dangerous…..
This is when strikers across the country who risked their very lives and their families to obtain the basic workers rights we are loosing today….
The Lamont hackers must be at it again.
Hey Katymine! good to see you – and to make the connection to earlier worker struggles! Thanks!
I’m beginning to feel an….energy with this. Could it be the start of a new social movement where the workers actually say “we ain’t gonna take it anymore”?? If this works and it looks like it very well may, the people will start to fight back after nearly 30 years of this right wing, “supply side” BS.
Continuing to send positive thoughts your way. Hope they’re arriving in a timely fashion. :-)
This is from Hoovers, the business information site:
Republic Windows & Doors, Inc
Fiscal Year-End
2007 Sales (mil.) $52.5
Employees At This Location 690
Employees Total 700
So, we are not talking about a teeny company here.
[katymine] — wow, I did not realize your connection to that famous sit in.
http://bss.sfsu.edu/tygiel/His…..strike.htm
Hella ya!
Rock the rock on!
Exactly right, katymine. I suspect this organized effort could not have happened without the union. And this scene is likely to be repeated all over the country, everywhere a plant is closing.
Maybe.
Two little news items from AR Blog this evening.
and a comment
WHich I have never heard of doing inventory in mid December either. If Lowes is in trouble.. a lot of big boxes are, imo.
That sure seems to be true …
Just now on local Chi tv, they were promo-ing the 10 PM news and it was such a treat to hear such a positive take on workers and their rights! It’s been way too long!
At the same time we have people trying to exploit the situation with Detroit automakers to dismantle the unions. I’ve worked for employers who treat workers as an expendable resource. Unfortunate that there are so many.
Sitting here in my open back hospital gown waiting for them to get around to starting the treatment…… probably no sleep ….
Well, I’m very glad you’re here with us – and reminding us of such important history!
About to watch the local news so you don’t have to … I never watch local but this is such a good story and they’ve been on it from the beginning – something the local papers have not done!
Speaking of local papers, that news about the Trib caught me by surprise. Had no idea they were in such a deep hole.
Wow that is one batch of pictures I haven’t seen…… going to have to look for family pictures now….. Thanks
They’ve been crumbling for a while … though they actually still seem rather strong in local sales, etc …at least I see a lot of neighbors have it delivered?
Aloha, Siun! Been a busy beaver today, eh? *g*
Tweety was touting it as the first signs that the Proletariat was rising up…! Vive la revolution… ;-)
OK … no one is saying a lot on the local news from the plant … sounds like the meeting today was promising but very inconclusive and no one wants to jinx any possible help for the workers. One report says an option is to look for a new owner and everyone says the meeting was cordial and folks want to get things done. The union local president just looks exhausted.
Interesting that the Cubs were not included in the bankruptcy filing. Must be the one profitable segment of the empire.
best wishes and healing thoughts, katymine
Did Tweety cop to a tingle, or is it only Barack that effects him that way?
My thoughts and prayers to ya, Katymine…! *g*
Here is more on the Flint MI Sitdown strike
A couple of years ago my father and I were watching Micheal Moore speak at the college in Flint and he started talking how the UAW was formed right here in this town and went on to talk about the sit down strike……. All of a sudden a light bulb went off for my Dad and memories flooded him to the point of bringing him to tears……. He was old enough to clearly be aware of what this strike meant and the risks that his family members took……
Dad spent quite a while telling me all about the strike, how our family participated and how so much better it was when it was over……
He certainly seemed ‘aroused’ by it…! ;-)
aquatigre upstairs
They were dangerous times. The automakers often hired jackbooted thugs to act as strikebreakers. You know the workers must have really felt pushed to the wall to risk so much. Especially during the ’30s when so many across the country were unemployed.
My sleepy little hollow,Hilo has it’s own ‘Bloody Monday’…
Thanks CT for that link!
If workers feel they have been screwed by the kleptocracy, why not focus a bit and name names?
A great name for this demonstration would be the Hugh L. McColl Jr. Memorial Strike. Bank of America, once the Bank of Italy set up to help working people, was completely revamped after a series of leveraged mergers by McColl’s tiny North Carolina National Bank that eventually swallowed BofA and changed its nature forever. McColl, who helped put the foundations of the current financial crisis in place, walked away early with a $60 million bonus package. In retrospect, much of his amazing career seems not be from genius, but good old-fashioned evasion of regulatory scrutiny, story-tellin’, and cooking the books. The BofA Corporate Center in Charlotte is referred to as the “Taj McColl” to this day.
Up the worker revolution in this country! I’m so proud of these employees and I don’t blame them one bit for taking over the place to stand up for their rights. Good for them!
Done. I am convinced progressives should be supportive. If the powers that be don’t get this kind of pressure (sit ins) from regular people, regular workers, there’s nothing to pressure them from leaning rightwards toward big bizness. (I believe Howard Zinn said something like that in an interview as well ;)