HiddenMysteries: We Don't Have to Wait Until the Boss Screws Us

by James Parks

The power of workers comes through with a union. That’s the message and lesson learned during the successful sit-in by nearly 300 workers at the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago last December.

Workers at Republic made justice happen. After a six-day sit-in at the plant, the workers, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) Local 1110, faced down the company and one of the nation’s biggest financial institutions. The company announced it was shutting down and that the workers would not receive the severance and accrued vacation pay they were owed (see video).

Bank of America, which received billions in taxpayer bailout funds, cut off the company’s line of credit. Outraged by the move, a coalition of workers, community groups, politicians and religious leaders shamed the bank and company into backing down.

UE Organizing Director Bob Kingsley, speaking at a brown-bag discussion at the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C., told the audience the Republic workers’ battle “could not have been won without the labor and community support.”

There were demonstrations in places I never heard of. We had major league international union support.

Not only did that community support play a big role in the workers’ victory at Republic, it was crucial to getting the workers back on the job after the plant closed. The Republic plant is scheduled to reopen in coming weeks under a new owner, Serious Materials. UE members will be recalled to their jobs as work ramps up at the plant, under a new UE contract negotiated with the plant’s new owners.

Serious Materials, which makes energy efficient “green” windows, was first alerted to the plant’s availability by the Sierra Club, one of the groups backing the workers’ strike, Kingsley said.

Because of the Republic workers’ struggle, all workers are better off, says AFL-CIO Organizing Director Ken Zinn.

If they had not had a union, they would have all had to go home with nothing.

Local 1110 President Armando Robles says what happened to the Republic workers can happen anywhere. That’s why we need to push Congress to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The workers won because they have a union and can come together to fight for their rights, he said. Now is the time to mobilize to protect workers’ rights, he said.

The battle is not over. It is time to start acting and talking. We don’t have to wait until the boss screws us.

aflcio.org

We Don't Have to Wait Until the Boss Screws Us

Friday, April 17 2009 @ 02:27 AM CDT