News, Twitter and on-the-ground updates from the occupation of Serious Materials in Chicago.
Workers with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America have occupied Serious Materials (formerly Republic Window & Door) in Chicago. The company had said it is closing operations at its Chicago plant due to "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[...]"
In response, the union countered that it wanted time to attempt to find a new buyer or figure out if they could raise the money themselves to purchase the factory and keep it running, possibly as a cooperative. Around 65 workers are occupying the building right now to back up that demand.
In 2008, UE workers occupied the same factory, then operated by Republic Window & Door, in protest of Republic's violation of federal labor law not giving the workers 60 days notice prior to the announcement of closure. The six day occupation ended in a settlement that amounted to $1.75 million.
Updates to follow in the comment section.
Twitter hashtag: #seriousoccupation
Republic Windows, redux? Workers occupy Goose Island plant
http://trib.in/xnaJ0O
UE's Facebook page
http://on.fb.me/ylKRui
Video by KenzoShibata
[youtube]7H-XB5TgFFE[/youtube]
Occupy Chicago livestream
http://ustre.am/DAYt
Comments
From someone I know on the
From someone I know on the ground right now
and
UE launches second plant
UE launches second plant occupation...
http://pilsenprole.blogspot.com/2012/02/ue-launches-second-plant-occupation.html
Press release from
Press release from UE
Vicente Rangel, Armando
Vicente Rangel, Armando Robles, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110 President; and Leah Fried, were among the workers and union representatives banding together at the company called Serious Materials Inc., 1333 North Hickory Avenue in Chicago on Thursday, February 23, 2012, amid reports that the company was going out of business. About 65 workers gathered inside to figure out how to proceed.
deja vu! thanks so much for
deja vu! thanks so much for the updates
Text from someone on the
Text from someone on the ground...
Some of the crowd outside
UE rep Leah Fried: "We'll be here as long as it takes. We've done it once, we'll do it again."
Pizzas delivered to
Pizzas delivered to #seriousoccupation
Police saying no to pizza delivery
Warehouse Workers For Justice outside
Workers inside the
Workers inside the plant
Supporters outside
Linked the first video I've
Linked the first video I've seen come out so far and the Occupy Chicago livestream in the body of the article
(No subject)
Sounds like Occupy Chicago
Sounds like Occupy Chicago has shown up with tents and they plan to camp outside of the factory
Apparently a settlement was
Apparently a settlement was reached and workers are leaving the factory
http://www.twitvid.com/XQB5L
Statement from
Statement from UE:
Statement from company:
Ok, gotta hit the skreets and
Ok, gotta hit the skreets and try and find some shitty factory work lol, someone take over...
Cheers for all the updates!
Cheers for all the updates!
So do we know if the workers
So do we know if the workers inside sort of expected this might happen (my understanding is that's what happened in 2008 and local officials were instrumental in arranging the occupation) or was it a spontaneous reaction to the threat of being shut down?
I don't think we know. My
I don't think we know. My hunch is that they had a sense that it would happen. The company hadn't rehired everyone like they said the would, so it was clear they were shady, and I can't imagine that the Republic Windows occupation is the kind of thing that a local would do and then be like "well we're never going to consider doing that ever again."
Sort of an aside - the local president worked at the plant. I'm not sure if being local president there involves paid time off the floor or not but I know it's not full-time. (One of the AFSCME locals where I work is the same way.) And the UE is tiny in terms of staff and full-time officials. When I lived in Chicago I think they had two or at most four staff organizers for the area, so they rely a lot on volunteers. So a unions vs workers thing is muddier here I think - even though it was planned and orchestrated by the officialdom the first time around. I think that this is part of why UE officials could pull that off, because of the way the UE is set up. A UE organizer in Chicago told me once that UE likes to have one local per facility in part because doing so creates opportunities for leadership development and building more active participation than larger and more impersonal locals.
From Labor Notes Quote: UE
From Labor Notes