A-Infos (en) US, Boston, Anarchist journal - BAAM* #16 - The Republic Workers Remind Us That Direct Action Gets the Goods by Jake Carman

At a time when big business is begging the government for big-money bail-outs and getting them, 
while workers get laid off and tenants and home owners get evicted, the employees of the Republic 
Windows and Doors factory in Chicago have taken matters into their own hands. And they have won. On 
December 5th, following the announcement that the factory, which employs 300 people, would close in 
three days, 250 workers began a sit down strike that may serve as a catalyst for a working-class 
renaissance of resistance throughout the United States. Republic CEO Rich Gillman informed the 
workers that though Bank of America recently received a $25 billion bailout, they were pulling 
their loan from the factory. As a result, Gillman gave his employees three days notice of the 
closure of Republic--well short of the 60 days notice required by federal law.
Facing the grim prospect of joining countless of oth-
ers on the unemployment line, the workers,
members of the United Electrical Workers
(UE) Local 1110, refused to leave. They
conducted a sit-down strike and took over
the factory. The occupation lasted 5 days,
and quickly earned attention from the me-
dia, politicians and others, shaming Bank
of America back to the bargaining table.
   Well-known activist Reverend Jesse
Jackson brought food to the workers and
said, "These workers are to this struggle
perhaps what Rosa Parks was to social
justice 50 years ago... This, in many ways,
is the beginning of a larger movement for
mass action to resist economic violence."
President-elect Barack Obama also offered
his support. "When it comes to the situation
here in Chicago" he said, "with the workers
who are asking for their benefits and pay-
ments they have earned, I think they are ab-
solutely right . . . what's happening to them
is reflective of what's happening across this
economy."
    On December 9th, Illinois Governor
- Rod Blagojevich came out with a state-
ment that his state's government would
boycott Bank of America until the loan to
Republic was reinstated. The next morning,
however, the FBI arrested the Governor for
alleged corruption. As a result, the media
gathered at the Republic factory left to
cover the Governor's arrest, all the cars on
the street outside of the factory were towed,
and the workers inside issued a call in fear
of a raid on their plant. The raid, however,
never came.
    The politicians and corporate media
were not the only ones paying attention.
According to Giuseppe, an eyewitness to
the occupation, "there is definitely an in-
creased sense of class consciousness...other
workers have been inspired." He also said
that the mainstream unions, who previ-
ously shunned the UE, have pledged to use
similar tactics, and Republic workers have
vowed to offer the same kind of solidarity
and support they received to others strug-
gling in the future.
    After only 5 days of the occupation, the
media attention and the resulting public
outcry, Bank of America agreed to reinstate
some of their loan, along with $400,000
from JP Morgan Chase. According to
Chicago Independent Media Center, "late
Wednesday night...more than 200 workers
and members of UE Local 1110 voted unani-
mously to accept a $1.75 million settlement
that includes eight weeks of back pay, two
months of continued health coverage, and
compensation for unused vacation time."
    "We fought to make them pay what they
owe us, and we won," said Local 1110 rep-
resentatives.
    Republic has stated that it will not re-
open the plant, and neither will the land-
lord, the Mars candy corporation. Accord-
ing to Giuseppe, the union "has created the
Windows of Opportunities Fund to raise
the money to buy the factory, which would
make it essentially worker-managed. There
hasn't been discussion about what that
would look like."
   As embattled Boston City Councilor
Chuck Turner said in an interview, "The
workers in Chicago are showing us the
way...We see them stand up and say `If
them, why not us.' That's the nature of evo-
lutionary/revolutionary change." Just like
the Chicago workers who led the 1880s
movement that won us the 8-hour day,
the workers of the Republic Windows and
Doors factory are an example to the rest of
us. The government is willing to use our tax
dollars to help the richest CEOs keep their
companies, but when it comes to defend-
ing what is ours--our jobs, our homes, our
communities and our futures--the only way
to win is to band together and fight back.

With pictures: http://boston.indymedia.org/usermedia/application/1/206465_Baam16_Complete.pdf
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* A General Anarchist Union in the Boston Area


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