Deal ends sit-in at Chicago factory

A deal was reached on Wednesday to end a sit-in at a closed Chicago window factory.

According to U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez each of the 240 laid-off laborers of Republic Windows & Doors would receive approximately $7000. The $1.75 million loan from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase will give each laborer eight weeks salary, all accrued vacation and two months paid healthcare.

The sit-in lasted six days after over 200 workers protested being laid off a mere three days after the factory shut down. The mostly Latino workforce participated in the protest which- as Guanabee brilliantly observed- was reminiscent of actions taken during Argentina’s 2001 financial meltdown.

The Chicago workers’ sit-in could have serious long-term effects in labor-management relations, according to a piece in the csmonitor.com:

Besides owed benefits, the protesting workers won a public-relations battle and drew a new line in the sand of labor-management relations, say some labor experts. In the past, workers would have filed a class-action suit to get severance, accrued vacation pay, and healthcare benefits. But the sit-in put the issue front and center and made it – and potentially other actions like it – a cause célèbre for people worried about job losses.

"Of course it's going to increase pressure on companies," Dr. Safford says of the sit-in. "What I'm impressed with is this union and these workers. They were thinking way ahead of the game. This is about political pressure being put on companies."

Image- AP (“Demonstrators march through downtown Chicago Dec. 10, 2008 in support of members of Local 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.”)
Sources- csmonitor.com, AP, Guanabee, New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg