[WSF-Discuss] Fw: [money_banks_crisis] Fwd: Chicago factory occupied

[kolya abramsky]

i know this is off topic of the list, but it is very important news that needs widely circulating and solidarity.

kolya


--- On Sat, 6/12/08, Cleve Higgins <fchiggins at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Cleve Higgins <fchiggins at gmail.com>
> Subject: [money_banks_crisis] Fwd: Chicago factory occupied
> To: money_banks_crisis at lists.riseup.net
> Date: Saturday, 6 December, 2008, 8:41 PM
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: jasper conner <jasper.sds at gmail.com>
> Date: 2008/12/6
> Subject: [northeastsds] Chicago factory occupied
> To: DCSDS Discuss <dcsds-discuss at lists.riseup.net>,
> Virginia SDS <
> virginiasds at lists.riseup.net>, north east sds
> <northeastsds at lists.riseup.net
> >
> 
> 
> Chicago factory occupied
> 
> Lee Sustar reports from Chicago on an occupation by workers
> who want what's
> theirs from management and the Bank of America.
> 
> December 6, 2008
> 
> WORKERS OCCUPYING the Republic Windows & Doors factory
> slated for closure
> are vowing to remain in the Chicago plant until they win
> the $1.5 million in
> severance and vacation pay owed them by management.
> 
> In a tactic rarely used in the U.S. since the labor
> struggles of the 1930s,
> the workers, members of United Electrical, Radio and
> Machine Workers of
> America (UE) Local
> 1110, refused to leave the plant on December 5, its last
> scheduled day of
> operation.
> 
> "We decided to do it because this is money that
> belongs to us," said Maria
> Roman, who's worked at the plant for eight years.
> "These are our rights."
> 
> Word of the occupation spread quickly both among labor and
> immigrant rights
> activists--the overwhelming majority of the workers are
> Latinos. Seven local
> TV news stations showed up to do interviews and live
> reports, and a steady
> stream of activists arrived to bring donations of food and
> money and to plan
> solidarity actions.
> 
> Management claims that it can't continue operations
> because its main
> creditor, Bank of America (BoA), refuses to make any more
> loans to the
> company. After workers picketed BoA headquarters December
> 3, bank officials
> agreed to sit down with Republic management and UE to
> discuss the matter at
> a December 5 meeting arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez
> (D-Ill), said UE organizer Leah Fried.
> 
> BoA had said that it couldn't discuss the matter with
> the union directly
> without written approval from Republic's management.
> But Republic
> representatives failed to show up at the meeting, and plant
> managers
> prepared to close the doors for good--violating the federal
> WARN Act that
> requires 60 days notice of a plant closure.
> 
> The workers decided this couldn't go unchallenged.
> "The company and Bank of
> America are throwing the ball to one another, and we're
> in the middle," said
> Vicente Rangel, a shop steward and former vice president of
> Local 1110.
> 
> Many workers had suspected the company was planning to go
> out of
> business--and perhaps restart operations elsewhere. Several
> said managers
> had removed both production and office equipment in recent
> days.
> 
> Furthermore, while inventory records indicated there were
> plenty of parts in
> the plant, workers on the production line found shortages.
> And the order
> books, while certainly down from the peak years of the
> housing boom, didn't
> square with management's claims of a total collapse.
> "Where did all those
> windows go?" one worker asked.
> 
> Workers were especially outraged that Bank of America,
> which recently
> received a bailout in taxpayer money, won't provide
> credit to Republic.
> "They get $25 billion from the government, and
> won't loan a few million to
> this company so workers can keep their jobs?" said
> Ricardo Caceres, who has
> worked at the plant for six years.
> 
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> 
> THE MEMBERS of Local 1110 have a history of struggle. In
> 2004, they decertified the Central States Joint Board--a
> union notorious for
> corruption and sweetheart contracts with management--and
> brought in UE, a
> far more democratic organization.
> 
> In May of this year, Local 1110 mobilized for a contract by
> organizing a
> "practice" picket, and 70 workers used their
> lunch break to confront the
> boss with a petition listing their demands. The workers
> were able to turn
> back company's effort to win major concessions and won
> solid pay
> increases.Now, management is trying to get revenge by
> pocketing money that
> belongs to the workers.
> 
> UE officials and workers acknowledge that it will be
> difficult to stop the
> plant from closing. But they're determined to get the
> money owed to
> them--and they believe that by fighting, they can set an
> example for other
> workers facing layoffs and plant closures as the recession
> deepens.
> 
> Negotiations are set for Monday, December 8. Whatever
> happens, however, the
> workers have already sent a message to employers that if
> they violate
> workers rights and the law, they can expect a fight.
> 
> "This is a message to the workers of America,"
> said Vicente Rangel, the shop
> steward. "If we stand together, we will prevail until
> justice is done, and
> we get what we're due."
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> 
> What you can do
> 
> If you live in the Chicago area, come to a rally on
> Saturday, December 6, at
> 12 Noon at Republic Windows, 1333 N. Hickory in Chicago, on
> Goose Island. If
> negotiations with Bank of America fail to resolve the
> issue, there will be a
> picket of BoA's Chicago headquarters at 231 S. LaSalle
> on Tuesday, December
> 9 at 12 noon.
> 
> Members of Local 1110 need your support. Make checks
> payable to the UE Local
> 1110 Solidarity Fund, and mail to:
> 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607. Messages of support can
> be sent to
> leahfried at gmail.com. For more information, call UE at
> 312-829-8300.
> 
> At the Jobs with Justice Web site, you can send a message
> of protest to Bank
> of America
> (http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/bankofamerica/).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "Freedom and democracy exist not as theoretical or
> institutional
> formulations, but in the cooperative struggle to attain
> them. Free people
> are those who are in motion to claim more freedom." -
> David Thelen
> 
> jasper conner
> D.C. Students for a Democratic Society
> Virginia Students for a Democratic Society
> 540-598-7552
> www.dc-sds.org
> jasperconner.wordpress.com