The signs say it all. At a nondescript industrial building, sided with corrugated metal, workers display signs that read "Respect Federal WARN Act Law," "You got bailed out. We got sold out," and "$Billion$ for Bank of America, $0 for workers."The building is the Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago and the signs are held by former workers, let go after the company lost its line of credit with Bank of America. The company gave them three days' notice and no severance -- federal law requires 60 days notice and severance. That's the WARN act referred to on the signs. The workers, clearly getting screwed illegally, staged a sit-in and effectively took over the building.
What happened next was unexpected, at least for the workers. "We never expected this," factory worker and union VP Melvin Maclin told the New York Daily News. "We expected to go to jail."
What Maclin and the rest of the Republic workers didn't expect was strong political and governmental support. Political realities in America are quickly correcting themselves after years -- perhaps decades -- of wrongheaded top-down economic theory. The economic crisis is making realists of us all... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
