Joe Biden Visits Chicago

Vice President Joe Biden visited Chicago on Monday to speak at the annual Richard J. Daley Urban Forum. He also took a tour of the soon-to-be-reopened Republic Windows and Doors factory on Goose Island. Republic was abruptly shut down last year, right before Christmas, and the workers, members of UE Local 1110 promptly occupied the plant and demanded the severance pay they were entitled to under law. Serious Materials then bought the plant and equipment earlier this year, promising to rehire the workers and start making windows again.

The California-based company, which specializes in energy-efficient windows and drywall is hoping to capitalize on the billions of dollars in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that have been set aside for weatherization assistance and state-administered energy efficiency programs. Biden called the weatherization and energy efficiency portions of the ARRA "the immediate biggest bang for the buck." Biden praised Senator Dick Durbin for helping to pass the act in Congress, noting that the senator "used it as an illustration of how badly things were going, and how dismissively American workers were being treated."

Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace talked about his vision for the plant. "Highly skilled manufacturing work like this is a triple win. It will save families money by helping reduce their energy use, protect our environment by reducing carbon emissions and create new paths for economic growth and energy independence," he told the AP. Serious has hired back only "a handful" of the workers to get the plant back up and running, and is hoping to have everyone hired back within the year. "We're trying to march as quickly as possible to get these people back to work," said Sandra Vaughan, the company's chief marketing officer said. [Sun-Times, Tribune]