Door open to union sit-in at Des Plaines Hartmarx plant (makers of Obama's suits)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1567525,CST-NWS-hart11.article

May 11, 2009
BY SANDRA GUY [e-mail]

Employees at Hart Schaffner Marx's sewing plant in Des Plaines are expected to vote today on whether to stage a sit-in, reminiscent of the one at the Republic Windows and Doors plant last year.

The protest would take place only if Wells Fargo takes action to force parent company Hartmarx into liquidation, according to a spokesman for the union representing the company's 3,000 workers. A sit-in would mean workers would stay at their factory positions and refuse to leave.

Hartmarx Corp., the 120-year-old Chicago parent of prominent apparel brands like Hart Schaffner Marx and Hickey-Freeman, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

Hartmarx originally had three bidders, but the one that many experts thought would keep the company intact after bankruptcy -- London-based Emerisque -- let its bid expire May 6.

The Republic Windows union employees held a sit-in that drew national attention after the owner gave them three days' notice, just before Christmas, that he was closing the Goose Island plant and not paying severance because a bank would not extend the company's line of credit.

A new owner has promised to rehire the workers and has reopened the plant.