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Workers who took over shuttered factory will try to reopen plant(Chicago Tribune Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) CHICAGO _ The six-day sit-in by former workers at the shuttered Republic Windows & Doors plant won them money and benefits, but they're still out of work, leading them and others to say they'll try to reopen the factory as they hope what they did provides a spark of home for a beleaguered labor movement. The 240 workers who had occupied the factory since its abrupt closure Friday voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept a deal to pay them severance, vacation time, and temporary health care benefits. The $1.75 million agreement was negotiated over three days with the workers' union, Republic owners and lender Bank of America. Union negotiators were unable to obtain a commitment from the parties to re-open the Goose Island plant, said United Electrical Workers organizer Mark Meinster. So the union has decided to forge ahead to find someone new to run the plant, he said, utilizing some of the tens of thousands of dollars donated from around the world during the sit-in. The union also will reach out to private foundations. City officials have voiced their support for work to resume in the building, which is owned by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.. It was bought for $31 million in 2006. "There are assets in there," said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), who said he has contacted companies to see if they are interested in moving into the plant. "They have to figure out how to sell those assets . . . I hate to see it closed." The deal struck for the workers was hailed by some as a symbolic victory for American workers facing a difficult economic climate. Robert Bruno, a labor expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the peaceful occupation might set an example for others faced with abrupt layoffs. "There are serious economic conditions facing lots of people in this society and the current mechanisms for providing people with relief are failing," Bruno said. "Success breeds success, and I think that when workers have nothing else to lose, they're prepared to do something different and prepared to fight back." The outcome also may be a warning to companies to obey federal law on giving workers at least two months' notice before closing large plants. Workers at Republic said they were given only three days' warning. "This Republic Windows saga I'm sure is reverberating throughout boardrooms in America," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who moderated the negotiations. Under the agreement, Bank of America will loan $1.35 million to Republic to pay workers, with minority owner JP Morgan Chase & Co. kicking in another $400,000. The money will be placed in an escrow account, which the union wanted to administer after concerns were raised about Republic owners. During negotiations, Republic majority owner Richard Gillman initially demanded that he and other company executives receive money, participants said. Gillman wanted 8 weeks of his $225,000-per-year salary, plus additional money for payments on a Mercedes and Land Rover, Gutierrez said. Gillman's family formed a new company, Echo Windows, which last week purchased a windows manufacturing division from a plant in Red Oak, Iowa, public records show. Union attorneys are looking at whether that move violated labor laws by moving production to a non-union plant, which will manufacture windows and ship them to customers in Chicago, Meinster said. ___ (c) 2008, Chicago Tribune. Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. Copyright ? 2008 Chicago Tribune |