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Workers Win a Big Round in Chicago Factory Sit-In

A worker takes part in a picket outside the Republic Windows and Doors factory on December 8 in Chicago, Illinois. Workers occupying the window-making factory have been offered a lifeline after the bank, which had cut off financing to the production facility, said it would give the company a new loan to help cover the costs of their vacation and severance pay. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Scott Olson)

CHICAGO - The creditor of a Chicago plant where laid-off employees are conducting a sit-in to demand severance pay said Tuesday it would extend loans to the factory so it could resolve the dispute, though the workers declared their protest unfinished.

A resolution seemed nearer as Bank of America, which yanked the plant's financing last week, announced it sent a letter to Republic Windows and Doors offering "a limited amount of additional loans" to resolve its employee claims.

Posted in labor, protest

Workers Occupy Chicago Factory: Echoes of Argentina's 2001 Worker Uprising

When the 250 workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago were told that the plant was shutting down, they decided to take matters into their own hands. On Friday, December 5, the workers occupied their factory in an act that echoes the sit-down strikes of the 1930s in the US and the occupation of factories during the 2001 crisis in Argentina.

Posted in financial crisis, labor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2008
1:05 PM

CONTACT: Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA)
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Chicago Sit-in

WASHINGTON - December 8 - AP is reporting: "The 200 workers demanding severance and vacation pay have become a national symbol for thousands of employees laid off nationwide as the economy continues to sour. They occupied the plant of their former employer, Republic Windows and Doors, after the company abruptly fired them last week."



BILL FLETCHER
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Posted in chicago sit-in, labor, protest

Chicago Factory Layoffs Are a 'Wake-Up Call to America'

Workers an supporters line the factory floor Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008 on the third day of a sit-in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. The band of 200 workers demanding severance and vacation pay have become a national symbol for the millions of laid off workers across the country after the company abruptly fired them last week prompting them to occupy their former workplace. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

President-elect Barack Obama on Sunday afternoon put himself on the side of laid-off workers who continued to peacefully occupy the factory and warehouse at Republic Windows & Doors.

Later in the day, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced she has begun investigating the factory's "sudden closure."

Some 200 workers are seeking vacation and severance pay, as well as their final paychecks. During a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director, Obama said he understands their plight.

Posted in chicago sit-in, labor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2008
11:45 AM

CONTACT: Senator Bernie Sanders

Michael Briggs or Will Wiquist (202) 224-5141

Unemployment Emergency Requires Urgent Action

BURLINGTON, Vermont - December 5 - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called today for immediate action to create jobs in the wake of a new report that more than half a million jobs were lost in November, the worst monthly showing in 34 years.

 

The job losses pushed the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, the highest rate since the recession of the early 1990s, the Labor Department reported.

 

Sanders called on Congress to pass an economic recovery package.

 

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Posted in labor

Obama Needs to Bail Out Workers

Having rolled out Warren Buffett and the economic wizards and Hillary Clinton and the security squad, President-elect Obama needs a press conference to roll out Joe the Plumber. No, not that Joe! That was bipartisanship over the edge when we discovered he was unlicensed, owed back taxes, had no business plan, would have done better under Obama's tax plan than John McCain's, and then campaigned with McCain to call Obama a socialist.

Posted in bailout, labor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2008
10:17 AM

CONTACT: American Rights at Work

Josh Goldstein, 202-822-2127 x118    

New Television Ad in Maine Highlights Need for Employee Free Choice Act

Encourages Support for Legislation to Help Restore Middle Class

WASHINGTON - November 14 - American Rights at Work, representing a broad coalition of labor and workers' rights advocates, will launch the first issue advertising campaign for the 111th Congress on Sunday, November 16. The Maine television ad campaign, aimed at building support for the Employee Free Choice Act, serves as a reminder that in our current economic climate, the American public is hungry for measures to strengthen the middle class.

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Posted in employee free choice, labor

Open Letter to Whole Foods Market

John Mackey
CEO
Whole Foods Market, Inc.
550 Bowie Street
Austin, TX 78703-4644

Mr. Mackey:

Posted in labor
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