Feb 26, 2009 4:45 pm US/Central
Window Factory To Reopen Months After Sit-In
Protest At Republic Windows And Doors Last Year Drew National Attention
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Laid off workers peer through the doors of the Republic Windows and Doors factory, where they staged a sit-in on Dec. 5, 2008.
Mira Oberman/AFP/Getty Images
The factory where laid-off workers staged a highly publicized
sit-in last year has been sold to a California company that plans to rehire them,
their union said Thursday.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Serious Materials, a green-oriented windows manufacturer, purchased the former Republic Windows and Doors plant, United Electrical Workers spokesman Mark Meinster said.
The company has agreed to offer jobs to the former staffers, who are ecstatic at the news, he said.
"I'm just so excited," window designer Melvin Maclin said. "I'm really looking forward to getting back to work."
"It's a great feeling. It was a relief," added maintenance technician Vicente Rangel.
The weeklong protest
drew national attention and supportive words from then President-elect Barack Obama.
Serious Materials officials didn't return calls seeking comment. But the company had confirmed last month that it was in talks with Republic's creditors and hoped to reopen the shuttered plant with the same workers.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports it is yet not known when Serious Materials will start production in Chicago. The workers will receive the same pay and window orders will determine how many workers start at first. As window production increases, more workers will be added at the site.
"They're gonna get a lot of support from government programs, weatherization programs," Meinster said of Serious Materials. "There's even some language in the stimulus that provides some support for products like this and so we hope they're able to sell. We really think this product is going to sell well."
About 200 of the 240 laid-off workers occupied the doors and windows manufacturer for a week in December, demanding severance and accrued vacation pay after Republic gave them just three days notice before closing the plant down.
Even though all 254 workers received eight weeks pay, times have been difficult.
"Every time I see the gas bill coming, I was thinking, I'm either going to start making my payments on the gas bill, or the food, because it's really tough," Rangel said.
The company's main creditor, Bank of America, was criticized for cutting off funds to the plant, and then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich had ordered all state agencies to stop doing business with the bank.
The workers had argued that the shutdown violated federal law because employees were not given 60 days' notice.
"This is actually a victory for all unions and all labor, all over, you know, because if you fight, you can win," Maclin said.
Serious Materials has a track record for getting laid off workers back on the job. The company took over Kensington Windows in Vandergrift, Penn., in January. So far, more than 20 of the company's 150 former employees are working again.
The factory is located at 1150 N. North Branch St. on Goose Island.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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