Déjà Vu: Workers Occupy Former Republic Window And Door Factory
By aaroncynic in News on Feb 24, 2012 2:30PM
Workers who once occupied the Republic Window and Door Factory in Goose Island in 2008 to fight to keep their jobs staged another sit-in in the same building last night, now owned by California based manufacturer Serious Energy.
Serious bought the plant from Republic after it attempted to shut its doors without giving its employees notice while owing them back wages. After a six-day sit-in, workers won a settlement of about $6,000 each and some were then rehired by Serious. Last night, more than 50 of those workers from the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110 decided to occupy the factory after finding out yesterday morning Serious planned to close the plant immediately. More than 70 supporters gathered outside the doors in a show of solidarity, bringing food, water, and other items for the employees inside.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Serious said in a statement:
"Ongoing economic challenges in construction and building products, collapse in demand for window products, difficulty in obtaining favorable lease terms, high leasing and utility costs and taxes, and a range of other factors unrelated to labor costs, have compelled Serious to cease production at the Chicago facility.”
Once again, plant workers demanded a seat at the negotiating table. Around 8:30 p.m., the workers and their union representatives were in communication with the corporate offices in California. In a statement read in front of the building, Leah Fried, an organizer for UE Local 1110 said “Our only demand is that we be given a chance to save these jobs. What we want is time. We want time to find a buyer or even make it possible so that the workers can buy this place themselves and run it as a worker-run enterprise.” When asked how long they planned to stay, she said “As long as it takes. We did it once before and we'll do it again.”
While the group was prepared to stay indefinitely, they did not have to stay long. Around 1 a.m., In These Times reported Mark Meinster of UE Local 1110 said:
A deal has now been struck to try and save the jobs. Serious Energy has agreed to keep the plant operational and people on the job for another 90 days while the union workers and the company work together to find a way to keep the plant open with new ownership because the plant will no longer be part of Serious Energy’s business plan. After 9 hours the occupation has ended with a hopeful workforce.