Chicago workers claim victory in factory occupation

Boston-Bay State Banner
December 18, 2008

CHICAGO — Laid-off workers at recently shuttered Republic Windows and Doors ended their six-day factory occupation late last Wednesday night, claiming victory in negotiations with their employers and its bank creditors.

Some 250 members of Local 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) unanimously accepted a tentative agreement with the owners of the abruptly-closed factory that they said addressed workers’ demands.

Following the vote, the workers and their supporters streamed out of the factory, chanting “We did it” and “Yes we can” in both English and Spanish.

The settlement proved that “you can do anything when you have the support of every one of your co-workers,” said Local President Armando Robles. “This is not a victory just for us. It is a victory for every worker in the country.”

Totaling $1.75 million, the agreement will provide ousted workers with eight weeks of wages owed to them by the company under the 1988 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, as well as pay for unused vacation time and two months of continued health coverage.

UE Director of Operations Bob Kingsley described the historic settlement as “a win for all working men and women who face uncertainty, unfairness and job loss in a troubled economy.”

The workers’ actions within the factory on this city’s Near North Side, which for years had assembled high-quality sliding doors and vinyl windows, attracted national attention last week.

The occupation began on Friday, Dec. 5. Union members unanimously voted to stage a sit-in at the workplace after Republic’s owners had provided only three days’ notice that the factory would be closing and the company would be financially unable to meet its severance obligations to all those laid off.

The following day, over 200 Chicago-area labor activists and religious leaders attended a spirited rally outside the Republic factory. With placards reading “You got bailed out, We got sold out” and “Don’t Steal Christmas,” speakers expressed frustration not only with their employer, but also the company’s primary creditor, Bank of America, arguing that the bank’s refusal to extend Republic a line of credit had caused the company to suddenly close the factory.

The protestors were particularly chafed that the bank would take such a position after receiving $25 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury as part of the federal bank bailout.

After the rally, several workers spoke candidly about not only their frustration and surprise at their employer, but also their fears about how to make ends meet as they face the prospect of being jobless.

“This is such a surprise,” said Lalo Munez, an employee with 34 years’ experience on the factory line. “It’s like they just want to throw us away and get new people with low salaries and no benefits.”

Not going to happen, said Silvia Mazon, a mother of two and a screen worker with 17 years of line experience.

“We are here and we are not going anywhere,” said Mazon. “We are fighting to get what we deserve, what is fair and what is ours … Hopefully we will inspire others to fight so that they don’t get stepped on.”

In the days that followed, the Republic occupiers received an outpouring of support from across the city with donations of money and food. Members of various labor federations mobilized support, viewing the occupation as a tangible expression of the anger that many working people have felt in response to the federal bailout and job losses.

Republic workers also received high-profile support from a number of local politicians and activists. On Sunday, Dec. 7, the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Operation PUSH delivered a truckload of food for the workers.

“These workers are to this struggle perhaps what Rosa Parks was to social justice 50 years ago,” Jackson said. “This, in many ways, is the beginning of a larger movement for mass action to resist economic violence.

“We’re going to have a self-induced depression because we are trying to change our economy from the top down,” Jackson added. “It must be changed from the bottom up.”

Later that day, President-elect Barack Obama addressed the Republic dispute during a press conference.

“The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they’re absolutely right and understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy,” Obama said. “I think that these workers, if they have earned their benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments.”

By the fourth day of the occupation, more elected politicians offered support. Chicago aldermen moved to suspend the city’s business with Bank of America to pressure the company. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered state agencies to stop doing business with the bank until it used some of its federal bailout money to keep the factory open.

“We hope that this kind of leverage and pressure will encourage the Bank of America to do the right thing for this business,” said Blagojevich, one day prior to his arrest on federal corruption charges. “Take some of that federal tax money that they’ve received and invest it by providing the necessary credit to this company so these workers can keep their jobs.”

Activists continued to target Bank of America, picketing outside bank offices in Chicago and in other cities across the country. Though they were in negotiations with the company, UE organizers also called for a rally outside of Bank of America headquarters in Chicago’s Financial District.

Shouting a “victory for one is a victory for all,” more than 500 people from various religious groups, labor organizations and immigrant rights organizations wrapped around the Bank of America building.

“If we stop fighting, business as usual will continue,” shouted the Rev. Gregory Livingston, national field director of Operation PUSH. “But we will not stop fighting and we will prevail. The Republic workers will get Christmas, the Republic workers will get what is owed to them.”

Republic employee Raul Flores thanked all those who came out in support of the workers’ efforts.

“If it wasn’t for you, none of this could have happened,” exclaimed Flores. “It’s not just for Republic workers, it’s for all of us. We are the country; we are the ones who deserve the money. We are united. We are America.”

After the agreement was reached, UE’s Kingsley also announced the creation of a new effort to reopen the Republic factory. Building on the flood of donations to the union local’s solidarity fund and seed money from the UE national union, officials announced the creation of the Window of Opportunity Fund, dedicated to reopening the plant.