I see writing on the wall

[AngelinaCatHub]

[Bandit]

It is true, Hub.

http://theactivist.org/blog/the-1930s-really-are-here-again

It is titled The 1930's really are here again.

Do you hear what I hear?
Do you see what I see?

Yes I do & it aint no pretty star shining in the sky

[AngelinaCatHub]

It is true, Hub.

http://theactivist.org/blog/the-1930s-really-are-here-again

It is titled The 1930's really are here again.

Do you hear what I hear?
Do you see what I see?

Yes I do & it aint no pretty star shining in the sky

In the 30's the police broke up a Union strike at a mine. It's before my time of course, but I have seen films of the masacre. These were Americans killing Americans. The top is off the bottle and I pray I'm wrong. 'Hub

[Bandit]

In the 30's the police broke up a Union strike at a mine. It's before my time of course, but I have seen films of the masacre. These were Americans killing Americans. The top is off the bottle and I pray I'm wrong. 'Hub

What you found there is not a good situation. The employees are furious & they have every right to be so. It reminds me of the french revolution when you are beaten down & lied to for so long, you would rather die fighting for your rights than be bound to slavery.

[BankruptPinoy]

VIDEO! Watch breaking video of the Republic Windows and Doors Plant occupation. This video is from INSIDE The Republic Windows and Doors Plant where union workers have occupied the Plant and aren’t leaving.

About 250 United Electrical Union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant today, taking shifts, after the plant told workers on Wednesday that they are fired as of Friday.

Leah Fried, an organizer with the union, says the Chicago company has to give its employees 60 day notice.

“We’re doing something we haven’t done since the 1930s, so we’re trying to make it work” she tells press, a reference to when General Motors workers took the Flint Plant in Michigan in the 1930s.

LALATE has up two videos. The first video is from inside the plant, the second apparently from outside.

Republic Windows and Doors Plant!

http://news.lalate.com/2008/12/06/republic-windows-and-doors-plant/

After Layoffs, Workers Stay at a Factory in Protest

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/07chicago.html?hp

Laid-Off Workers At Factory Find Outside Support

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Republic.Doors.and.2.881630.html

Angry laid-off workers occupy factory in Chicago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ildwrFjwHYjvJPX2edZgBnNb8EEQD94TKM484

Workers who got three days' notice that their factory was shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won't go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay.

About 250 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts Saturday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.

Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.

During the two-day peaceful takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.

"We're doing something we haven't done since the 1930s, so we're trying to make it work," she said, referring to a tactic most famously used in 1936-37 by General Motors factory workers in Flint, Mich., to help unionize the U.S. auto industry.

Fried said the company can't pay its 300 employees because its creditor, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, won't let them. Crain's Chicago Business reported that Republic Windows' monthly sales had fallen to $2.9 million from $4 million during the past month. In a memo to the union, obtained by the business journal, Republic CEO Rich Gillman said the company had "no choice but to shut our doors."

Bank of America received $25 billion from the government's financial bailout package. The company said in a statement Saturday that it isn't responsible for Republic's financial obligations to its employees.

"Across cultures, religions, union and nonunion, we all say this bailout was a shame," said Richard Berg, president of Teamsters Local 743. "If this bailout should go to anything, it should go to the workers of this country."

Outside the plant, protesters wore stickers and carried signs that said, "You got bailed out, we got sold out."

The Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights group, announced in a news release Saturday that Jesse Jackson planned to visit the workers Sunday morning to offer his support.

Larry Spivack, regional director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said the peaceful action will add to Chicago's rich history in the labor movement, which includes the 1886 Haymarket affair, when Chicago laborers and anarchists gathering in a square on the city's west side drew national attention after an unidentified person threw a bomb at police.

"The history of workers is built on issues like this here today," Spivack said.

Representatives of Republic Windows did not immediately respond Saturday to calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said authorities were aware of the situation and officers were patrolling the area.

Workers were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, Fried said. Union officials said another meeting with the company is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

"We're going to stay here until we win justice," said Blanca Funes, 55, of Chicago, after occupying the building for several hours. Speaking in Spanish, Funes said she fears losing her home without the wages she feels she's owed. A 13-year employee of Republic, she estimated her family can make do for three months without her paycheck. Most of the factory's workers are Hispanic.

Bank of America, which had been lobbying Congress for a Federal bailout since January 2008, got a Federal bailout throught the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in recent weeks. In an interview with AFP, union representative Leah Fried expressed outrage that Bank of America abruptly cut Republic Windows and Doors' lifeline after itself receiving relief at the expense of Federal taxpayers.

Republic Windows and Doors Workers Take Over Building to Protest Illegal Layoffs, Pay Loss

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1276535/republic_windows_and_doors_workers.html

[Flamingo]

If one has worked at a company that went bankrupt or had to close as this Chicago business had to do, not only is it emotionally damaging, the financial havoc is horrid. I worked at a company that went bankrupt in 2002 due to the tech bust of 2001. Vendors/clients were not paying bills and going bankrupt themselves. It all eventually collapsed. There were no funds to pay employees. Everyone had to wait until the bankruptcy was completed to get vacation/sick pay or other funds due them, including the release of their 401(k) funds which had to stay where they were until the IRS released them (two years later for me to receive both). Very few folks know what it is like to have a grown man stand in front of you and cry about the situation and what he was going to do as to his child who needed dialysis to stay alive when medical insurance was ending at the end of that month and he was out of a job. These were union people. I was not union as I worked for the CEO, Chairman and Legal Dept. I was there for a few weeks after closing to tie up loose ends but it is not an easy situation for anyone. If there are no funds coming in to pay payroll/bills and vendors/clients are going under themselves, it's a chain reaction as many folks are finding out when they find themselves in this situation.

[Bandit]

If one has worked at a company that went bankrupt or had to close as this Chicago business had to do, not only is it emotionally damaging, the financial havoc is horrid.

Not only that but my uncle has worked for Republic for many years. Now you have thousands of people who bought quality windows who will not be able to get replacement parts. How can they still honor warranty?

I know this because the new windows in this house are from Republic. They are good windows. I wonder how long the employees will rally & how many people are going to get angry who just spent tens of thousands of dollars on new windows.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Not only that but my uncle has worked for Republic for many years. Now you have thousands of people who bought quality windows who will not be able to get replacement parts. How can they still honor warranty?

I know this because the new windows in this house are from Republic. They are good windows. I wonder how long the employees will rally & how many people are going to get angry who just spent tens of thousands of dollars on new windows.