Skip to main content

BREAKING NEWS!!!- Another Factory Occupation Coming to Chicago???

Here is the press release from Workers United, issued earlier today...
(Side note - It was Hart Schaffner & Marx workers who launched the 1910 Chicago Garment Workers General Strike that lead to a long strike of 20,000 garment workers in Chicago).

Hartmarx Workers Vote to "Sit In" to Save Their Jobs: TARP Recipient Wells Fargo Threatens to Close Obama Suit Maker Factory & Layoff Workers Despite $25b Bailout
500 Hartmarx Workers Joined by Illinois Rep. Phil Hare, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias & Other State, National Leaders

May 11, 2009

Chicago - Today, 500 workers at the Chicago-based apparel firm Hart Schaffner & Marx held a rally and historic "sit in" vote to fight for their jobs as major lender and TARP fund recipient Wells Fargo & Co. pushes for a bankruptcy closure of the facility.
"Everyone at the plant is worried about their future. It all hinges on Wells Fargo. They have to do the right thing and allow this company to be reorganized--so jobs can be saved," explained Ruby Simms, a 32-year veteran of the Hart Schaffner & Marx factory in Des Plaines, IL.
The workers voted in favor of a "sit in" style action, which means that if Wells Fargo or a buyer tries to begin liquidation or close the factory, the workers will respond by physically remaining at their job site.

The struggle of the Hartmarx workers mirrors that of the 250 Republic Windows and Doors workers who saved their own jobs last December when Bank of America tried to shutter their doors. State and national leaders are increasingly standing up for Hartmarx workers, members of the union Workers United (an SEIU affiliate), and slamming Wells Fargo-a $25 billion taxpayer bailout recipient-for shortsightedly refusing to invest in U.S. companies and workers.
Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has vowed, "Unless the company remains open, [Wells Fargo] will not be doing business with the state of Illinois any longer."
"Wells Fargo has received $25 billion in taxpayer assistance through TARP. In other words, the workers Wells Fargo may throw out on the street have been subsidizing its operations during these tough economic times. So much for returning the favor," said Member of Congress Phil Hare, who also worked in the men's clothing industry as a cutter for 13 years.

The Hartmarx workers' struggle sounds the alarm on what could be a cascade of job losses and company closures perpetuated by U.S. financial institutions. "Voting to sit in, these workers are standing up for all of us," says Noel Beasley, Director of the Chicago/Midwest Regional Joint Board and Executive Vice President of Workers United, the union that represents the Hartmarx workers. "The future of the economy and the future of this country are all about good jobs. The vote today says Hartmarx workers are going to hold banks accountable for how they spend taxpayers' money and how they contribute to the future of our economy."

Chicago-based Hartmarx, the largest menswear manufacturing company in the nation, filed for bankruptcy protection in January after U.S. banks curtailed its lines of credit. The clothing maker employs 3,500 across the nation, with about 1,000 of its employees located in Rock Island and suburban Des Plaines where suits for President Obama are made.

Tom Balanoff, president of the SEIU Illinois State Council, called on America's banks to stand by working women and men: "This is a historical moment. This is where workers take a stand against shortsighted banking practices that cost American jobs. Workers don't want financial institutions like Bank of America and now Wells Fargo hurting their livelihoods. Our banking system should be helping to save jobs."

###

Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, is a union representing more than 150,000 workers in the US and Canada who work in the laundry, food service, hospitality, gaming, apparel, textiles manufacturing and distribution industries. Workers United is a new union with a history of more than 100 years, and includes members from many predecessor unions, including the ILGWU, ACTWU, UNITE and UNITE HERE.

SEIU - With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers-not just corporations and CEOs-benefit from today's global economy.

Comments

  1. Hey Jerry, have you talked to anyone from UNITE/HERE about the occupation? They have been fighting to keep UNITE a part of UNITE/HERE and against SEIU's raids and many of them feel that Workers United is a front group. It would be interesting to hear their perspective on the Hartmarx situation and whether they plan on supporting it or not.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Honduran Civil Society Leaders Visit Chicago, Advocate for Restoration of the Constitutional Government and an End to Human Rights Violations...

Honduran Civil Society Leaders Visit Chicago, Advocate for Restoration of the Constitutional Government and an End to Human Rights Violations La Voz de los de Abajo, Casa Morazán and NALACC invite you to panel discussions and community forums in Chicago with leaders of Honduran civil society touring U.S. with immigrant leaders to advocate for the restoration of the constitutional government and an end to the escalating human rights violations. One month after the interruption of constitutional order in Honduras through a military coup d’état and in the wake of widespread reports of human rights violations harkening back to events of the 1980s, the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) is bringing a delegation of civil society representatives from that country to the U.S. to participate in a speaking tour and to advocate for the restoration of constitutional order and respect for human rights. U.S. based Latino immigrant leaders will also join this del

In memory of Rafael Gomez Nieto, the anti-fascist COVID victim two wars could not kill, on the first anniversary of his passing…

When I was an up and coming young socialist high-school, then college student, moving gradually away from Liberation Theology, towards some form of democratic socialist-humanism, the example of the Spanish Revolution of 1936-1939 made a major impact on my thinking. I knew instinctively and without question Stalinism and Maoism had nothing to offer. How could two of the century's most brutal dictators have anything to say about creating a future free of oppression. What I was looking for was historical examples of a new stage in the movement toward full human freedom, one in which working class people were in control of their lives and their future. No bosses, no party bureaucrats, no cults of personality and increasingly, in a departure from my past, no gods. Probably the first and certainly one of the most influential works of revolutionary literature that I encountered was Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia , hence my Orwell attachment to this day. Soon following were the equall

Dark day for Chicago, but a ray of light in the 25th Ward...

So Rahm Emmanuel has been elected the next privatizer in chief. Wisconsin is looking much closer to Chicago than ever before. Lets just hope we can organize the same type of labor rebellion against Rahm they have so successfully organized in Madison. Let’s see who loses their jobs first. Will the unions that decided to play nicey, nicey with Rahm really believe they will be spared Rahm’s meat cleaver? I suggest they bend over and kiss their collective asses good bye. Rahm is a man who loves to be feared not loved. I give it one year before even the most feverent Daley opponent (myself included), long wistfully for the return of daddy Daley, when evil step dad Rahm takes over. But all is not hopeless tonight. Here in the 25th, in good old Pilsen, we live to fight another day. Danny Solis has finally paid a small price for his host of sins. We have a run-off! Here are the totals as of 10:47 PM with 31 of 31 precincts counted and 100% of the vote in… CUAHUTÉMOC MORFÍN 2,451 27.96 % DANIEL