For Immediate Release May 13, 2009 Rochester Hickey-Freeman Workers Vote to Stage Sit-In if Bailed-Out Bank Attempts to Close Company Vote Comes One Day After Illinois Workers Pledge Sit-in; Sen. Charles Schumer Demands Jobs Stay in Rochester ROCHESTER, NY, MAY 13—Determined to protect good, U.S. manufacturing jobs, more than 450 Hickey-Freeman workers unanimously voted yesterday to stage a sit-in if Wells Fargo & Co., their employer’s main creditor and a recipient of a $25 billion taxpayer bailout, liquidates company assets. Rochester workers are joining with employees of Hartmarx, Hickey-Freeman’s parent company, who voted earlier in the week to stage a sit-in if their plants were shuttered. “There are a lot of married couples that work here. If they lost their jobs, their families would be devastated,” said Debbie Glinski, who has worked at Hickey-Freeman in Rochester for 15 years. “These banks received bail out money and that came from taxpayer...

This evening I talked to Joe Costigan of Workers United by phone about the developing situation. You can hear that interview here... http://www.archive.org/details/JoeCostiganOnHartmarxSitdownVote I apologize for the low audio quality. Joe had to talk to me via a very staticy cell phone connection. I will post more info as it becomes available.

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 reorgani...

OK, I will be honest - this year's May Day march in Chicago was small. Much smaller than the 750,000 to a million who marched in 2006. Smaller even than the tens of thousands who marched last year. After lambasting the mainstream media for their horrible coverage of last years march, I feel the need to be honest about the fact that this years turn-out was the smallest since 2006. And this pattern was repeated around the country, coast-to-coast. That said, this was a surprise to practically no one. Sure there were a few immigrants rights activists that predicated bigger turn outs, more out of the hope that their enthusiasm might encourage more people to show up. But I think everyone pretty much knew that this would not be the best of May Day celebrations. The reasons are a multitude and quite obvious to anyone who has paid any attention to the political terrain as it relates to both the labor and immigrant rights movements: 1. Barack Obama’s election has diminished rather tha...