I was recently contacted by email in regards to some important errors in my article for the Industrial Worker on the Republic Windows factory occupation. Mark Meinster, an International Representative for UE and one of the main UE staff who helped support and guide the workers who decided to occupy Republic, read the version of the article I posted here on pilsenprole. He emailed me to make me aware of one outright error and some other items that were unclear in my article. I am reposting his comments here, along with explanations for my mistakes below so that readers will be aware of these inaccuracies in my original article. Mark’s comments are in italics… 1. First, regarding your sentence :"UE was expelled from the CIO in 1949 because of the leftist politics of much of the union’s leadership." As a student of labor history I'm sure you've read lots of material about the CIO split, but just for the record we (the UE) would point out that we quit the CIO before being...

This is an un-edited version of an article I submitted to the IWW's newspaper, The Industrial Worker. The edited version will appear in the January issue. I have referenced this article a number of times on Labor Express Radio and with activist involved in the Republic occupation, so I didn't want to wait for the published version to come out before making it available here... Factory Occupation Brings Quick Results: Labor battles are most often measured in months. Some, like the Congress Hotel strike in Chicago or the recently successful effort to win union recognition at Smithfield Foods in North Carolina, have stretched on for years. Both have been extraordinary models of corporate campaigns and have successfully mobilized community allies, but this alone was not enough to bring a quick victory. When the struggle is over severance pay because of a factory closure, the matter often ends up resulting in a long drawn out legal battle. But it took the workers at Republic Windows...

TODAY: National Call-In Day for HR 676, Single-Payer Healthcare United For Peace and Justice urges you to participate in today's nationwide day of calls to members of Congress on the issue of healthcare. Initiated by the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care -- a nation-wide effort to support HR 676, a Medicare for All/Single Payer Healthcare bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers -- today's Congressional call-in is focused on reaching the members of Congress in their home/district offices. The point of these calls is to ask your members of Congress to sign on as a sponsor to HR 676. To find who your representative is go to www.votesmart.org In addition to your own representative, please contact Senator Ted Kennedy's office by phone at 617-565-3170 or by fax at 617-565-3183. He is preparing health care legislation. Tell him that you support Conyers' bill HR 676 -- and that expanding the Massachusetts model nationally is not comprehensive enough. When you call y...

Here is one of the first stories I have seen about the use of CAFTA (the Central America Free Trade Agreement) by a corporation to bully a signatory nation into changing it's laws or cough up millions of dollars in damages. We have seen this repeatedly with NAFTA. These investor-to-state rights provisions of these trade agreements are incredibly anti-democratic and one of the most dangerous elements of these agreements. This is from a CISPES update... On December 9, 2008, Canadian-based Pacific Rim Mining Corp. filed a Notice of Intent (NOI) to begin arbitration proceedings against the government of El Salvador . The NOI was filed under Central America-Dominican Republic-United States of America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) laws, and serves as the first step in opening up legal proceedings against El Salvador (Canada is not a member of CAFTA but the arbitration would be filed under its US-based subsidiary, Pac Rim Cayman.) The company and country will have 90 days to amicably ...

Reprinted from ILC International Newsletter No. 316, Dec. 17, 2008 The National Union of Mineworkers, Steelworkers, Steelmakers and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic (SNTMMSSRM) is being subjected to fierce repression by the fraudulent government of Felipe Calderon and by the Grupo México, the mining monopoly that seeks to destroy the union. What is the mineworkers" crime? It"s defending the right of workers to decide who their leaders should be without government interference; it"s defending their collective-bargaining agreement. On December 4, Carlos Pavon Campos, Secretary for Political Affairs of the mineworkers" union, was arrested in Mexico City. He was immediately transferred to the city of Monclova in the state of Coahuila (in the north), on charges of alleged fraud. The day before, Juan Linares Montufar, president of the union"s Main Committee of Vigilance, was transferred to Mexico City. Linares Montufar had been arrested in the city of Morelia i...

I have added a statement by Kim Bobo from Interfaith Worker Justice below... Well, so far, everything I am hearing about Congresswoman Hilda Solis, Obama’s pick for Secretary of Labor, is positive. I have never heard of her before, but my wife who works for NALACC (the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities) has talked with members in California who know her well. They describe her as a strong advocate of immigrant workers. The AFL-CIO gave her a 97% pro labor voting record. Roberto Lovato on the Of America blog, in an article called…“Secretary of Labor Designate Hilda Solis: One to Celebrate” called it Obama’s “first progressive appointment.” Apparently Solis father was a union member (Teamsters) and her mother an assembly line worker. I just hope she’s not a relation of our pro-gentrification alderman Danny Solis (just joking). Below are the statements released today by the AFL-CIO and Change To Win. PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN COMMENTS WITH ANY ADDITIONAL INFO YOU MA...

I have an article summing up the Republic Windows occupation saga on the Labor Notes website. Here is a teaser... When managers informed the workers at Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago that the plant would close in three days’ time, the announcement was no surprise. Suspicion that something was wrong had been floating around the workplace for weeks before the December 2 announcement. “We’ve had a lot of our machines taken out of the plant at night,” said Melvin Maclin, vice president of United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 1110 and a seven-year employee. “And along with the machines go people’s jobs.” ... For more go to... http://labornotes.org/node/1994

A number of people have been asking me if there is any effort in Chicago to fight foreclosures and evictions. I am not aware of any myself. A couple friends sent me this link to an organization in Michigan... http://www.moratorium-mi.org/ Should we have something like this here in Chicago? Is their any activity like this here that I am unaware of? Please post your comments and suggestions. Carlos Fernandez from NALACC informed me... "South Austin Coalition Community Council has been doing something, I've heard. Probably working with West Side ministers. I don't have any details and they're not on the web but in case anyone wants to follow up: (773) 287-9957"

All Pakistan Trade Union Federation (APTUF): Workers of Pakistan Need Peace. Peace Needs the Action of the Working Class The APTUF is a trade union center which exists in an organized from in all regions of Pakistan. We members of APTUF come from Punjab, from SIND, from Baluchistan, from North West Frontiers Province We may speak different languages and have different cultures and religions -- but we all are members of the same trade union. We all share these main concerns and demands: - We want to keep our jobs and not be unemployed; - We want wages that allow us to live and to raise our families, which means a legal minimum wage of RS. 10,000; - We want respect of our rights as workers, which means first of all our right to organize in trade unions, whatever our trade; we want the right to strike and to collective bargaining; - We want the right to assemble, demonstrate and freely express our views;- We want the abolition of anti-worker laws such as IRO- 2008, Essential Services Ordi...

Ask President-Elect Obama not to let the outgoing Bush Admin Steal Farm Worker Protections. Find out more here... http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/h2a_dec08?qp_source=web

I have double checked these figures. It is even less than orginally thought. The actually number is o.ooo7% (actually based on total funds loaned to Republic 1.75 million, not 1.7 million as I orginally stated - but $400,000 was contributed by Chase, so B of A itself contributed 1.71 million). It would be intresting to figure out an estimate of the interest the bank will likely make on its money (or our money I should say).. My fellow Wobbly from Minneapolis took my challenge and calculated what percent of the 25 billion dollars Bank of America received in federal bailout money was spent to pay the workers at Republic Windows & Doors what they were due under law. His calculations come out to 0.0068 percent. So I feel I owe Congressman Gutierrez and B of A and apology for my previous sarcasm. I now see the light. B of A spent less than one hundredth of a percent of our taxpayer dollars to give the Republic workers what they were legally due and it may take them months, or perhaps y...

Members of the Iraq Freedom Congress narrowly escaped a bombing in Kirkuk recently. The IFC , which is made up of Iraqi trade unions, women's organizations and other social movement groups describes it's mission as... " Working For a Democratic, Secular and Progressive Alternative to both the US Occupation and Political Islam in Iraq ." They issued this letter to their supporters around the world... Letter to all brothers and sisters Greetings... We have been receiving many phone calls and e-mails from Iraq and around the world after the bloody bombing in Kirkuk. People have asked about our health and dozens of visitors decided to come from different cities in Iraq to check on our well-being but we asked them not bear the hardship of travel. First of all I would like through this letter to extend my condolences to the families of the victims. No words can ease their pain, but we support them in this great ordeal. We also express our profound thanks and appreciati...

Here is a whole new aspect to the Republic Windows and Doors story. These crooks have robbed the taxpayer more than once. They also took $9.6 million in TIF subsides. Check out the link below for details (Thank you to Claudia and Carlos for cluing me in on this)... http://progressillinois.com/2008/12/11/republic-windows-opens-door-tif

From ChiTown Daily News... As the possibility of another 2,000 teacher dismissals and layoffs draws nearer, the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE) is partnering with several advocacy groups in the city to bring attention to the matter ... Read the rest here... http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/CORE_begins_fight_for_teachers_jobs,19766

The times they are a FREAKING changing. Check out this news... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1139559220081212

Here is a complete audio recording of the final press conference of the Republic Windows and Doors factory occupation. It is great to hear the excitement in the voices of Armando Robles, Melvin Maclin and the other workers. It is also great to hear Carl Rosen discuss the possibility of the factory being re-opened at some point in the future. The love fest between Congressman Gutierrez and Bank of America however is nauseating. Luis wants us to be grateful to Bank of America for spending a tiny fraction of our tax money to help the people our money should have gone to in the first place. Can someone who is better at math than I, please calculate what fraction of a percent 1.7 million is of 25 billion? http://www.archive.org/details/FinalPressConferenceRepublicFactoryOccupation

See here... http://www.jwj.org/bailout/republic.html

Here is a video from Andrew at Labor Beat T.V. I will have audio from last night's victory announcement press conference up tonight... LABOR BEAT- "Workers' Republic: Scenes From a Successful Factory Occupation"When the workers at Republic Windows and Doors were notified their factory would close in three days, they took matters into their own hands. The union work force seized control of the factory for 6 days to demand the severance they are by law owed. On the sixth day of their occupation, they won all their demands, and showed the world's working class a classic example of people power (something not seen in the USA for decades).This short video from Labor Beat represents a fraction of our coverage of this historic event. The full 30-minute episode, "Workers' Republic," will be uploaded soon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiFzP48UHYw

Free Speech Radio News, had asked me to submit a short montage audio clip of numerous people at the plant - workers, organizers and supporters – talking about the significance of the workers at Republic deciding to use the militant labor tactic of factory occupation, the first time this has been attempt in the U.S. since the late 1930's. Here is what I got... http://www.archive.org/details/VoicesFromRepublicOccupationVictory

I just returned from the victory at Republic Windows & Doors. I am too exhausted and I have too much work to do at the moment to provide a full I witness report. I will do that later. But here is the report from UE... After the conclusion of negotiations Wednesday evening, the membership of Local 1110, more than 200 workers, met in the plant cafeteria to hear and consider the tentative settlement that had been worked out by UE negotiators over the past three days. The settlement was approved by a unanimous vote. 'Justice - We Did It!' Following the vote, the UE members, led by Local President Armando Robles, marched out of the plant, chanting “We did it!” in English and Spanish. Pres. Robles stepped to the microphones outside the front entrance to the plant, where a throng of reporters and cameras had been waiting. He announced the end of the occupation and said that justice had been achieved. UE Western Region President Carl Rosen then described the negotiations, summarize...

This is from my fellow wobbly in Minneapolis... This is a report from two friends up here in Minneapolis: "We handed out leaflets to workers and passersby in front of the US Trust Building in Minneapolis. US Trust was recently bought our by Bank of America and now functions as their "Private Wealth Management Division." We got positive reactions from every single person who took a leaflet. A few of the people we talked to were being laid off themselves. Workers in this country are hungry for change, and increasingly ready for a fight.After about 20 minutes of leafletting, we took our message straight to the top. We rode the elevator to the 14th Floor of the US Trust Building, walked to the front desk of US Trust, and demanded a meeting with the President of the company. After a short back-and-forth with the secretary, she agreed to give the head of the office one of ourleaflets. We asked her to inform him that if the situation was notresolved in favor of the workers of R...

Check this out... http://twinkle.tapulous.com/index.php?hash=28c50ef053738439b8e52a2d82e2a41181569446

Fro m the NY Times (thanks Teo for posting this)... What this really shows is how much national, single payer health care is key to solving the crisis with the U.S. auto industry. We should not be celebrating the wage rates for new hires represented by the third bar in the graphic. What that means is it will be all the harder to organize the transplants, when union membership offers a minimal wage differential. Of course if the U.S. auto industry does not receive the federal funds it needs, disappears, and takes the UAW with it, those transplant wage rates are going to drop like a stone.

Hi All, I have received a couple questions whether solidarity actions are still on for the Republic workers as an settlement has not yet been reached. YES!!! Here are the details on today's action... Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm Location: Bank of America Headquarters Street: 231 S. LaSalle - Support workers at Republic Windows and Doors and their sit-in. - Stop foreclosures and save housing. Bank of America took $25 billion from the Wall Street Bailout. Like others, they have resisted investing in jobs, housing and the other needs of the Main Street economy. Instead, Bank of America, like the rest of them, is buying other banks, investing in foreign projects and paying their executives big bonuses. At the rally will be people facing the crisis: workers occupying Republic Windows and Doors; families being evicted due to foreclosure by Bank of America; and other people fighting back and demanding a People's Bailout.

December 9, 2008 Negotiations will resume tomorrow as the parties continue to work towards an agreement. Progress was made, and the bank and the Union are bargaining in good faith. The parties will reconvene tomorrow at 1pm. There are still important details to be worked out before the parties can reach an agreement. Workers will then vote on the tentative agreement.

Here is the official word from Leah Fried at UE (I guess the Trib jumped the gun)... Status of negotiations between UE and Bank of America: Negotiations between Bank of America, the UE Committee and the company are still in progress. No settlement has been reached. Bank of America informed us they had sent out a statement accidentally. Any statement regarding the result of negotiations at this time is premature. When the meeting concludes, the UE committee will return to the factory and report on any progress. Because UE is a democratic organization, only the 200 plus workers currently occupying Republic Windows and Doors will decide if a settlement is acceptable by a democratic vote. We will inform you of any changes.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-workers-takeover,0,2473688.story

Though the situation at Republic deserves our sustained focus, the possible death of the auto industry should not escape our attention... Congress is moving toward an agreement to provide emergency bridge loans for domestic automakers, but significant roadblocks remain. These loans are urgently needed to avoid a collapse of our U.S. auto industry, which would send shockwaves across our entire economy and deepen the current recession. To protect America’s workers in this economic crisis, we need your immediate help. Members of Congress need to hear from you directly. Call your senators today and make sure they get the message: Provide emergency bridge loans to the auto industry. Call Dick Durbin and Barack Obama via the Capitol Switchboard today at (202) 224-3121 To make your call as effective as possible, keep your message short and direct and begin by making it clear that you support providing an emergency bridge loan to the U.S. auto industry to protect American jobs. Communicating t...

This is from Patrick with the IWW, thank you for this update (and thank you to all the Wobs, SDS, Food not Bombs and others that should up to protect the workers)... Apparently police showed up around 9am, towed some cars that were parked along the road (Hickory), but did not in any way interfere with the occupation. A member of our ad hoc Republic Workers Solidarity Committee (which includes members of IWW, SDS, Food not Bombs, and many other local groups) received word this morning that media had left the factory en masse to cover Blagojevich's arrest - and that people should come immediately to make sure the workers were not left without a shield. About forty of us responded to this call, arriving at the factory around 11am. At that point, police were long gone, and there was no sign that the workers were in danger. (In fact, spirits were high, and some media had already returned to the site.) Shortly after, at noon, a vigil was held by the interfaith committee - the turnout for...

I want to offer a quick apology to all those who have been trying to contact me, especially by phone. I know I haven’t been able to keep up with all your calls and questions. I also am sorry that I haven’t been more helpful to those who have made some terrific suggestions like setting up a live national feed through Indymedia or linking up with some of the more widely read blogs. In all honesty I am a bit exhausted by the last few days, and I still have a lot of work to do. I am working on a Labor Notes article with a Tuesday deadline which is going to keep me up late, and I can’t miss anymore work. For those of you who may not know, Labor Express and pilsenprole are purely volunteer projects and I need to maintain my full time job as well. So keep the calls and suggestions coming, but please understand if I can not respond in a more timely fashion. In Solidarity, Jerry Mead-Lucero

I am getting unconfirmed reports that police have shown up at Republic Windows & Doors. Can anyone confirm this and provide an update?

Statement by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney In Support of Striking Chicago Factory Workers At Republic Windows and Doors December 9, 2008 The 10 million members of the AFL-CIO stand in solidarity with over 200 members of the United Electrical Workers who, in championing their own rights, are taking on the rampant corporate abuse of workers across this country during dire economic times. These workers' peaceful occupation of the shuttered Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago has put Washington and Wall Street on notice that working people have had enough. We applaud President-elect Barack Obama's support for the workers' demands to receive the vacation time and severance pay that they have earned. Republic and its creditors should meet immediately with these workers to honor their reasonable demands. Our nation cannot afford to bail out banks and investment firms while leaving workers behind. Only weeks after taking $25 billion in federal bailout money, Bank of Am...

Negotiations between the UE, the management of Republic Windows & Doors and Bank of America ended without a resolution on Day 4 of the workers occupation. Mark Meinster, International Representative for UE talks about the state of the struggle to win the Republic workers their just due... http://www.archive.org/details/MarkMeinsterDay4OfRepublicOccupation

Jorge Mujica at rally at the Bank of America branch in the Chicago neighborhood of La Villta. Supporters of the workers occupying Republic Windows & Doors held the protest, threatening that members of the Latino community will pull their money out of Bank of America if the company refuses to ensure the Republic workers are paid what they are due under law... http://www.archive.org/details/JorgeMujicaAtBofaRally

Save Jobs and Housing: Demand a People's Bailout Now! Bank of America and Wall street got bailed out. Workers, homeowners and Main Street got sold out. Chicago Jobs with Justice, in coordination with community, labor and faith partners, is calling all supporters to: RALLY FOR A PEOPLE'S BAILOUT NOW! Wednesday, December 10 at 12 noon Bank of America Headquarters 231 S. LaSalle Support workers at Republic Windows and Doors and their sit-in. Stop foreclosures and save housing. Bank of America took $25 billion from the Wall Street Bailout. Like others, they have resisted investing in jobs, housing and the other needs of the Main Street economy. Instead, Bank of America, like the rest of them, is buying other banks, investing in foreign projects and paying their executives big bonuses. At the rally will be people facing the crisis: workers occupying Republic Windows and Doors; families being evicted due to foreclosure by Bank of America; and other people fighting back and demanding...

Below are links to audio from today's press conference at City Hall on the ongoing worker occupation of Republic Windows & Doors. The first is Alderman Joe Moore, explaining that 15 alderman are urging the Chicago City Council to pass a resolution calling for the City to divest from Bank of America if the bank refuses to extend credit to the owners of Republic Windows & Doors so that they can pay the workers their severance. The second piece of audio is Carl Rosen, President of the Western Region of the United Electrical Workers Union (UE) announcing at the press conference that the union is seeking a means to keep the factory in operation under new management… http://www.archive.org/details/JoeMooreOnRepublicWindowsOccupation http://www.archive.org/details/CarlRosenCityHallRepublicOccupation

Religious Leaders to Join Workers at Occupied Factory Interfaith Clergy Lend Moral Support to Republic Windows Employees in Historic Action, Call Attention to National Crisis of "Wage Theft" The leading national organization bringing religious traditions to bear on issues of labor, Interfaith Worker Justice, and its local affiliate, the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, will hold a press conference tomorrow — Tuesday, December 9th —at 12:00 PM in front of the shut-down Republic Windows and Doors company, whose employees have been occupying the factory since Friday to demand unpaid wages. According to federal law — specifically, the WARN Act (the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) — the Republic workers are owed pay for their lost vacation days and severance for the 60 days advance notice they are guaranteed but are being denied. Republic's failure to meet this legal obligation is a salient example of wage theft — a rampant practice about which...

Sorry, this escaped my attention earlier. Thank you to Dick Reilly for this... Breaking: Governor pressures bank in worker sit-in CLTV-WGN 9- Chicago Tribune [ http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/plant-sit-in-in-4th-day-meeting-scheduled.html ] Chicago Alderman Aim to End City Business with Bank of America UE News Update [ http://www.ueunion.org/uenewsupdates.html?news=429 ]

Check out this blog, it has a lot more info on the owners of Republic Windows & Doors plans to move operations to Iowa... http://communityorganizer.wordpress.com/ The new company is apparently called Echo Windows and bought a facility in Iowa that was called TRACO. It is the labor practices at TRACO that are the evidence that workers will be paid $9 an hour (almost half what workers at Republic make) and have little in the way of benefits. I am expecting a more complete story on this sometime soon on the ChiTown News website... http://www.chitowndailynews.org

Well we expected big news today and we got it... 1. 15 aldermen have proposed the City Council of Chicago pass a resolution that the city stop doing business with Bank of America if they do not ensure the workers get what is due them. 2. Carl Rosen, President of UE Western Division officially called for the plant to be re-opened under new management and stated that he is working with various public agencies to make this possible. In the mean time, it has been revealed that Republic planned to move operations to Iowa under a new name. The Iowa plant would be non-union, pay around $9.00 an hour, with limited benefits. Workers would need to work three years before receiving vacation pay. I will try to get the full text of the proposed City Council resolution posted here as soon as I can. I will also have pictures shortly.

It is confirmed that Republic planned to move operations to Iowa, to a plant were the workers were going to be paid almost half what they make in Chicago and almost no benefits. ChiTown news should have a full story up soon. I will post more as I get it.

Go here to download the program... http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressFor12-7-08

Hi All, I am reporting at this moment from the worker occupied Republic Windows factory in Chicago. I don't have any new audio for you yet but I do have some new news items... 1. Unofficial word is that there seems to be a strong likelihood the company had planned to close and move operations out of state. The workers had feared this since the equipment was removed from the factory a few weeks ago. UE staff have been investigating the situation and may have turned up evidence that this was the company's plan. This is a tried and true tactic of many manufacturers - closing a facility with decent wages and benefits and re-incorporating, sometimes under a new name, where they can pay substantial less. 2. There is more and more talk amongst the workers and UE staff that the company should remain in operation in some capacity. Many of the supporters who have been showing up have been encouraging the workers to take over the factory. Up until now, the workers seemed to think that clo...

Great article... http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/388449?rel=hp_picks

Obama defends Republic Windows and Doors workers: December 7, 2008 BY ABDON PALLASCH Sun-Times Political Reporter President-elect Barack Obama put himself on the side of the workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory Sunday:"When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right," Obama said Sunday at a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director. "What's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy."When you have a financial system that is shaky, credit contracts. Businesses large and small start cutting back on their plants and equipment and their workforces. That's why it's so important for us to maintain a strong financial system. But it's also important for us to make sure that the plans and programs that we design aren't just targeted at maintaining the solvency of banks, but they...

Schakowsky Supports Sit Down Strikers Demand Calls on Bank of America to Keep Plant Open and Meet Obligations to Workers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 6, 2008 Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) will visit Republic Windows and Doors today to show her support for sit down strikers demanding that the company and its chief creditor, Bank of America, meet their obligations to company's 300 workers. Who: Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) and Republic Windows and Doors workersWhere: 1333 N. Hickory Ave., Chicago, IL (on Goose Island)When: Sunday, December 7 at 4:00 a.m. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) will visit Republic Windows and Doors today to show her support for sit down strikers demanding that the company and its chief creditor, Bank of America, meet their obligations to company's 300 workers. Schakowsky will say that the taxpayer bailout of Bank of America and other large financial institutions creates a moral obligation requiring that Bank of America do everything...

Here is a continually updated list of links to press stories on the ongoing worker occupation at Republic Windows & Doors... http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/08/rallying-point-for-labor http://socialistworker.org/2008/12/06/republic-window-occupation http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/republic-windows-job-cuts-protest.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/us/07chicago.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-window-factory-sit-in-07dec07,0,667083.story http://www.windycitizen.com/node/3729 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ildwrFjwHYjvJPX2edZgBnNb8EEQD94TKM484 http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/Republic_workers_say_theyre_not_leaving_without_pay,19475 http://www.localnewswatch.com/skyvalley/stories1/index.php?action=fullnews&id=52150 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iW0Ngvx1DW0qq4eEZAo_sxfB4Wfg http://www.chitowndailynews.org/Chicago_news/Workers_demand_bailout_money_for_ailing_Chicago_manufacturer,19332 http://www...

Republic Windows & Doors workers occupy their factory and demand justice on tonight’s episode of Labor Express Radio. For months on Labor Express we have discussed the economic crisis and what it means for working people. We have forecast a long period of high unemployment and desperation for millions of American workers. But now, a group of factory workers in Chicago are pointing the way forward and providing an example of how workers can fight back. The workers of Republic Windows & Doors near downtown Chicago were informed last Tuesday that their factory was closing at 10:00 AM on Friday morning. But rather than except their fate in silence, the workers at Republic, members of UE Local 1110, told their management they were not leaving the factory grounds until they received payment for the 75 days notice the company is obligated to provide under Illinois state law and pay for any accrued vacation time. This is the first factory occupation by workers in the United State...

Rev. Jesse Jackson to Meet with Employees of Republic Windows and Doors Will Discuss Efforts to Save Workers' Jobs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 6, 2008 Contacts: Leah Fried, United Electrical Workers, 773-550-3022 Mark Meinster, United Electrical Workers, 773-405-3022 Meeting between Rev. Jesse Jackson and employees of Republic Windows and Doors, members of United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE), who are occupying the company's headquarters and manufacturing facility. The workers are engaging in the peaceful occupation in an effort to assure they'll get vacation and severance pay to which they are entitled. Who: Rev. Jesse Jackson and Republic Windows and Doors workers Where: 1333 N. Hickory Ave., Chicago, IL (on Goose Island) When: Sunday, December 7 at 10:30 a.m. Rev. Jackson is meeting to show his support for the employees who lost their jobs with only three days notice when the company was forced to close due to the cancellation of the its credit line b...

Photo Galleries at : http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/84884/index.php ] Photos: Workers Occupy Republic Factory in Chicago Christine Geovanis, Chicago Independent Media Center Hundreds of people gathered Saturday afternoon at the Republic Windows factory on Chicago's Goose Island to lend their solidarity to Republic workers, who occupied the plant on Friday. The workers have vowed to continue the occupation until they are paid back pay and benefits, or until the plant is re-opened -- by the owners or by the workers themselves. On Tuesday, the owners announced that because Bank of America has cut their credit line, the factory would be shuttered and all workers laid off on Friday -- without federally and state-mandated notice, severance pay and benefits. The workers instead voted to take over the plant, and have vowed to occupy the factory floor until the company pays them the money they're owed. Bank of America received $25 billion in federal bailout money earlier...