We've been seeing and hearing about shuttered factories, businesses, and laid off workers with frightening frequency lately. And so the closing of Republic Doors and Windows on Chicago's North Side might have escaped our attention, except for one thing. Workers there decided to occupy the factory. In doing so, they've become national news, even earning praise from Chicago's favorite son, Barack Obama. Their beef is legitimate, their cause is peaceful. They've met with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who took action on their concerns.
The 300 workers were due vacation and severance pay, as are many (but not all ) workers who are losing their livelihoods on the cusp of the holiday season. Trouble is, the company shut down abruptly last Friday because Bank of America canceled Republic's line of credit due to a downturn in the firm's business. That would be the same Bank of America that received billions in taxpayer dollars as part of the great financial bailout of 2008.
The best the bank could come up with is they're not responsible for the company's obligations to their workers. Yet they are responsible to the American people. What exactly did they think the $25 billion dollars they got in the bailout was for, anyway? In the face of this arrogance, Governor Blagojevich has ordered the state to stop doing business with BoA. Score one small one for the workers.
What the employees of Republic Doors and Windows are experiencing is being felt by businesses, big and small, all over America. This factory occupation could well be a template for other workers who find a bunch of high rolling bankers have their foot on their necks. Imagine a taxpayer revolt against banks that take government money yet refuse to use it to keep otherwise profitable businesses alive.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson understands the stakes here. That's why his Rainbow-PUSH Coalition handed out free turkeys and bags of food to the workers inside Republic Windows and Doors. And the empathy shown by our president-elect can't be underestimated either. It's not often we see people taking direct action to protest their circumstances.
Let's hope it spreads, don't you think?
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I had the thought, then started seeing it online: it reminded me of Argentina. I am thinking about when the owner of a ceramics factory closed. The workers took it over and continued the business. I heard Naomi Klein speak about it on radio, and she made a documentary, with her husband, Avi Lewis (both are Canadians) and a book with interviews.
I hope workers get as much relief, ditto for homeowners facing foreclosure, as did the finance industry and the car makers. When I think of factories that closed in the NYC area over the years, I feel sad that it wasn't possible for the workers to take over. It's not unheard of:didn't employees of an airline in the US take over as owner/employees when the airline went bankrupt?
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