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Chicago Factory Occupation
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| wm pasz |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 2:13 am
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1219 Location: Toronto |
CHICAGO (AP) — Workers laid off from their jobs at a factory have occupied the building and are demanding assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay that they say they are owed. About 200 employees of Republic Windows and Doors began their sit-in Friday, the last scheduled day of the plant's operation.Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down. Workers also were angered when company officials didn't show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, she said.
During the peaceful takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said. "It's a rarely used tactic," Fried said. "But we're in very drastic time and the workers have taken measures necessary to win what they're owed." Representatives of Republic Windows did not immediately respond Saturday to calls and e-mails seeking comment. Check the video. _________________ Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else. - Malcolm X |
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| Laboryes |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:21 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 1967 |
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Chicago Workers Occupy Their Plant and Show How To Fight I just returned from a rally at Republic Windows and doors in Chicago where workers are occupying the plant after they were given three days notice that it was closing for good. The workers were told last Tuesday that their plant would shut down on Friday. The employer’s said that they were forced to close as their bank, Bank of America, had denied them financing so they could not continue to operate. Workers that I spoke to did not believe for one minute that their boss first knew that they would have to close the plant just three days before they did it. The workers, members of the United Electrical Union (UE) voted unanimously to occupy the plant organizing themselves in to shifts and setting up clean up and safety committees. Read More Siggy ^ 
_________________ "When people refuse to obey, then democracy comes alive." Howard Zinn |
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| SharynS |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:02 pm
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Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 2939 Location: the 'puter |
Quote: We have seen top Union officials draw too many lines in the sand and the line has moved back so far and so often that the employers are not intimidated by it; you can only cry wolf so many times. It's an oldie but...: Q. How do you get a one armed labour leader out of a tree? . . A. Chainsaw! _________________ Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself. - Salman Rushdie |
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| rogead |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:51 pm
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Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 412 |
This is the kind of worker action that used to take place routinely in The United States prior to The Supreme Court's 1939 interpretation of the NLRA. In the three years leading up to that Supreme Court decision, there were nearly 600 “sit-down” strikes of at least one day's length in the US. In 1939, the court ruled on NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation. They found that workers who “illegally occupy” their workplaces are liable under trespass laws. The court also ruled that, under the NLRA, employers were within their rights to unconditionally fire any worker who participated in a sit-down strike, and that that right remained even if the workers were reacting to an unfair labor practice as defined by the NLRA.
I think we'll see more and more of these radical worker actions as the economy continues to sink. It's a good time for labor (that is workers, as opposed to trade unions) to organize and agitate. People are starting to understand that their fear of participation in radical protests is being trumped by their fear of losing everything they own. There is one potentially ominous note to all of this emerging activism. For the first time, the US government has deployed an active military unit (of over 20,000 troops) within the US border. Their purpose is specifically defined as assisting in civil unrest and crowd control. From the ACLU: http://xrl.us/o2iuj During the DNC and RNC protests, two things were clear to all of us. Firstly, that it was not the local civil authorities that were in control of the protest suppression operations; but rather, it was the US government which oversaw those activities. Secondly, it was obvious that the tactics and strategies being utilized were of an overtly military nature, as opposed to those typically used by the police. These may well be exiting times—and dangerous times! |
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| atuuschaaw |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:03 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 781 Location: an ahwangan |
It's good to see our president elect is throwing some support and encouragement towards the RWD workers!
Quote: Obama told a news conference Sunday that Republic Windows and Doors should follow through on its commitments to the 200 workers, who say they won't leave the plant until they are assured they'll receive their severance and vacation pay.
"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy," Obama said. _________________ "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." George Orwell |
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| rogead |
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:25 pm
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Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 412 |
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has ordered all state agencies to suspend business with Bank of America. The Republic Windows shutdown is due, in large part, to BOA's elimination of the company's line of credit. This is the same bank that received a sizable US government subsidy FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENCOURAGING THEM TO GRANT CREDIT.
http://xrl.us/o2j9j The Chicago City Council is also working on a similar proposal in regards to citywide agencies. |
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| atuuschaaw |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:10 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 781 Location: an ahwangan |
Oops! Looks like Gov. Blagojevich is going to have his hands full for a while. Makes you wonder how much of what brought this story up had to do with his stand on BoA? Oh, it's probably just a coincidence?
_________________ "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." George Orwell |
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| rogead |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:21 pm
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Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 412 |
Thanks atuuschaaw for helping to destroy my innocence!
A corrupt politician?--a Democrat, no less? Next you'll be telling me that Santa Claus isn't real 
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| atuuschaaw |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:28 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 781 Location: an ahwangan |
_________________ "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." George Orwell |
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| unionnow |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:44 pm
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Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 695 Location: Gettin the Hell out of retail |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe
All governors offices in the good old US of A are bugged. That's pretty routine. Read Jesse Venturas book Dont Start The Revolution Without Me He provides a good account of how his office and home was bugged and the fact that he was directed against his will to meet with 50 CIA cases officers his first day in office. He also states that the CIA has high ranking unelected bureaucrats that serve in state government. I don't doubt that, its probably down to the county level. IMHO The Governor of Illinois coming out for people taking and occupying a building would be frowned on by the National Security state. Its sort of like a public execution of the Kennedys , a message has to be sent to the crats _________________ “The burden against Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1-2) |
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| unionnow |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:45 pm
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Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 695 Location: Gettin the Hell out of retail |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe
All governors offices in the good old US of A are bugged. That's pretty routine. Read Jesse Venturas book Dont Start The Revolution Without Me He provides a good account of how his office and home was bugged and the fact that he was directed against his will to meet with 50 CIA cases officers his first day in office. He also states that the CIA has high ranking unelected bureaucrats that serve in state government. I don't doubt that, its probably down to the county level. IMHO The Governor of Illinois coming out for people taking and occupying a building would be frowned on by the National Security state. Its sort of like a public execution of the Kennedys , a message has to be sent to the crats _________________ “The burden against Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1-2) |
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| unionnow |
Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:47 pm
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Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 695 Location: Gettin the Hell out of retail |
repeat post
crashed and kicked off line _________________ “The burden against Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1-2) |
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| unionnow |
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:52 pm
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Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 695 Location: Gettin the Hell out of retail |
I was reading the indictment of the Governor and it looked like the same old stuff all politicians do.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2008/pr1209_01a.pdf Remember the movie Casablanca when the police inspector couldn't believe gambling was going on in the casino while he was being handed his winnings? It looks like garbage till you get to the part about the Senate Seat. It appears to me that he talked a lot and did nothing. They indicted him based and what he said and not on what he did. He was planning and talking but did not enter into a pact to sell the seat with anybody. Was this a guy goofball? A corrupt politician? One of the boys that got out of control? All of the above? Did he take on the protesters cause just to expand a populist appeal or out of real concern? The Chicago tribune had been beating up on the Governor pretty hard and it is a decidedly conservative newspaper. http://www.answers.com/topic/chicago-tribune The story is always more complex than what appears. _________________ “The burden against Damascus. ‘Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17:1-2) |
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| rogead |
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:18 pm
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Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 412 |
UE 1110 president Armando Robles:
Quote: We have achieved victory. We said we will not go until we got justice, and we have it http://xrl.us/o24qa SI SE PUEDE! |
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| atuuschaaw |
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:41 pm
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Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 781 Location: an ahwangan |
Thanks for the news Rogead! Wonderful! 
This is unbelievable that a major player is actually being held accountable to the law of the land! I kid you not! This type of underhanded crap that BoA tried has been going on forever...it's just now that a flood light was allowed to be placed on it...watch the cockroaches run! Somebody pinch me! I must be asleep!
_________________ "Speaking the truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." George Orwell |
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