The Chicago Workers’ Sit-In: A Lesson in Dignity

[Omaha Steve]

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The Chicago Workers’ Sit-In: A Lesson in Dignity
December 9th, 2008

Workers at Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors were recently laid off with a mere three days notice. Instead of taking it lying down, they staged a sit-in protest to demand their vacation and severance pay that their contract required. Their struggle has become a national example for workers’ dignity, securing the support of numerous authorities, including President-elect Barack Obama.

The nearly 250 employees – members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) – are clearly not alone in this battle. As the AP reports, unions such as AFSCME are standing firmly behind them:

Larry Spivack, regional director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, said the peaceful action will add to Chicago’s rich history in the labor movement, which includes the 1886 Haymarket affair (…)

“The history of workers is built on issues like this here today,” Spivack said.

“This is why organized labor still matters,” says columnist Katie Allison Granju from the Knoxville News Sentinel:

“If these workers had just quietly walked away from the injustice done to them by their employer, this company and its financiers would have gotten away with it, too.

But instead the workers did the right thing. They organized, and they refused to be silent. They staged a peaceful, very public sit-in. They did exactly what the American labor movement has empowered them to do, and as a direct result, even the President Elect of the United States has taken notice.”

As you can see in this video, the fight at Republic Windows and Doors continues. Regardless of the resolution of this conflict, one thing is clear: Only organized workers can make their voice heard and have their rights respected.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNIQ1-ghsPs

[Hubert Flottz]

1. Some of the finest days of my life were spent on the picket lines

wearing the local's old big headed, fuzzy "Rat Suit" and protesting against union busting gangsters and thugs...(try it you'll like it)

Every local needs a Rat Suit...the TV people love them.