Change is here.
Yesterday, ChicagoLife diaried a story about the the United Electric Workers defending their rights with a good old fashioned sit-in strike.
Workers laid off from their jobs at a factory have occupied the building and are demanding assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay that they say they are owed.
About 200 employees of Republic Windows and Doors began their sit-in Friday, the last scheduled day of the plant's operation.
Update [2008-12-7 21:8:34 by MLDB]: Edited below to reflect a fuller picture of the sitution.
Well, your President-Elect has spoken. First he addresses the workers' plight:
"When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right," Obama said Sunday at a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director. "What’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.
...
So, number one, I think that these workers, if they have earned their benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments.
But there is more news here as Obama follows with a take on the overall situation. As 'irate' points out in the comments, this situation is directly tied to the banking scandal -- Bank of America pulled the plug on financing for the company. This is one case where there is no trickle down effect for working people -- they get deluged by a flood.
Obama's broader comments speak to the bank crisis:
"Number two, I think it is important for us to make sure that, moving forward, any economic plan we put in place helps businesses to meet payroll so we are not seeing these kinds of circumstances again,’’ he said. "Have we done everything that we can to make sure credit is flowing to businesses and to families, and to students who are trying to get loans? And to homeowners who have been making payments on their homes but are still finding their property values so depressed that it becomes very difficult for them to make the mortgage payments?
"That’s where the rubber hits the road and that’s going to be the central focus of my administration."
He's on it from beginning to end.
Isn't this a far cry from anything the current pResident has said or done with respect to labor?
Labor is not my number one issue, but this is most certainly change we can believe in!