VICTORY AT REPUBLIC WINDOWS AND DOORS!
Submitted on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 6:23pm
Press Release from UE Local 1110, posted in solidarity by IWW members:
Workers Vote to Get Pay; Occupation Ends!
After 6 days occupying the
plant, workers at Republic Window and Doors in Chicago voted to accept a
settlement late on December 10th.
The settlement totals $1.75million. It
will provide the workers with:
- Eight weeks of pay they are owed under
the federal WARN Act;
- Two months of continued health coverage, and;
-
Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.
JPMorgan Chase will provide
$400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America.
Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it
will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the
workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the "Window of
Opportunity Fund" dedicated to re-opening the plant.
As the Local 1110
leaders characterized the settlement, "We fought to make them pay what they owe
us, and we won." Read more about the settlement here.
We want to extend
a big THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this campaign. The tremendous
support and solidarity from the thousands of people like you around the country
- and the world - who took the time to send messages to Bank of America and who
rallied at banks across the country was crucial in winning this victory.
This is truly an historic victory for workers in the United States.
But this struggle is just the beginning! As the economic crisis deepens
we need to launch a working class fight back. Rallies for a "People's Bailout"
will continue today and throughout the rest of the week.
Click here to
find an action near you (updated daily)
http://www.jwj.org/bailout/12-08actions.html. You can also take action online:
- Tell Congress: We Demand a People's Bailout:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/peoplesbailout
- Save Autoworker Jobs:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/autoworkers
- VOTE NOW for Grinch of the
Year: http://www.jwj.org/grinch
Thanks again for all that you do! You
can see photos, video, and press clips from the Week of Action here:
http://www.jwj.org/bailout/12-08report.html