crossposted from unbossed
The one where workers were in the news constantly and then they got some money and left.
Well, that's not the end of the story.
Just a few weeks ago, the sit-in by workers at Republic Windows and Doors was constantly in the news. It was a momentary symbol of all that is wrong with US workplaces, with the power given employers and the powerlessness of workers. And then of the victory of the weak over the powerful - thanks to organization and a smart and activist union - the UE - the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America and the Chicago Local 1110 that led the fight.
The Nation Magazine included the UE on its list of Most Valuable Progressives of 2008 as:
MOST VALUABLE UNION: The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
The big players in the labor movement were trying to figure out what to ask of the first genuinely labor-friendly president since Harry Truman, and they weren't doing a very good job of it in the weeks after the election. Then the Bank of America (having supped prodigiously at Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's bailout banquet) made the mistake of pulling the operating credit for an Illinois-based window manufacturing firm and a small independent union showed the rest of the movement what was possible. When Republic Windows and Doors announced it was shuttering its factory in Chicago, members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America union who worked at the plant borrowed a page from the radical labor activists of the 1930s and refused to leave. Their sit-down strike earned headlines, solidarity support from bigger unions, an endorsement from President-elect Barack Obama and, finally, commitments by the bank and the company to pay the displaced workers what they were owed. The Rev. Jesse Jackson compared the UE members to Rosa Parks and described their bold response to the shutdown as "the beginning of a larger movement for mass action to resist economic violence." Let's hope he is right.
And then they just fell out of the news, amidst end of the year jollity and end of the year fears that we are being sucked down a hole by the economy.
But out of sight does not mean the UE and the Republic workers are doing nothing.
The UE’s website is clear on what it stands for.
UE operates on two basic principles: rank-and-file control and aggressive struggle. Our slogan is "The Members Run This Union," and in the union's more than 140 autonomous locals around the country, that's exactly what happens.
UE carefully avoids the top-down, top-heavy, bureaucratic style of many unions by promoting membership control. The salary of the union's three top elected officers is limited by the UE Constitution to the top wage paid in the industry (currently set at less than $51,000.) It's hard to think (or act) like a big shot on a worker's wage. More important, this policy keeps UE leaders in touch with the lives of our members — we believe it's too easy for labor leaders to develop "boss-like" points of view if they've become comfortable with "boss-size" salaries.
This week the UE showed that the fight to protect the workers at Republic is not over. It has filed NLRB charges against Republic for violating its legal obligation to bargain with the union. The charge demands an expedited investigation and that the NLRB seek an injunction under § 10(j):
UE Local 1110 members who occupied their factory late last year are asking for a court-ordered injunction through the National Labor Relations Board to require the plant's owner to return equipment removed from the factory.
Employees of Republic Windows and Doors, filed charges against their employer on Tuesday morning, alleging violations of their collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations act.
"UE [United Electrical Workers union] wants Rich Gillman, former president of Republic Windows and Doors, to be held accountable for the illegal acts we believe he committed related to the closure of Republic Windows and Doors," said field organizer Leah Fried.
The charges allege that Republic violated their rights by failing and refusing to give the union proper notice of the plan to close its doors or negotiate over the closure.
The union also claims that the closure was not done in good faith, rather the company moved operations, machinery and clients to an Iowa factory where workers are paid less.
"Gillman refused to inform workers and bargain with the union regarding his plans to move production to his new factory Echo Windows where he employs workers through a temporary agency at $8/hr," said Fried.
The union believes that their former employer, Richard Gillman, improperly took equipment from Republic Windows and Doors in order to set up a new company, Echo Windows, which is now producing a similar product in Red Oak, IA .
"We are asking the Labor Board to demand the return of the machinery, the clients, and the jobs to Chicago," said Laurie Burgess, an Attorney representing the workers. "This will enable the Union to then negotiate with the employer regarding their bargaining unit members' rights."
The union believes that an injunction to return the machinery removed from the factory back to the Goose Island facility will increase the ability of the factory to be bought and re-opened with different management.
Members of United Electrical Workers Local 1110, engaged in a peaceful factory occupation for six days in early December after their employer, Republic Windows and Doors, announced with three days notice they would be shutting down operations. Workers suceeded in winning vacation, severance and insurance owed to them.
"We workers want justice, said Armando Robles, President of UE Local 1110. "That is why we are charging the owner of Republic Windows for moving the operations without discussing it with the union."
Section 10(j) injunctions can be very powerful tools for getting strong and fast relief. They are a remedy that more unions should demand. They can't be issued in every case, and with the way the NLRB has been bled of resources during the Bush administration - and neglected under the Clinton administration - they are short on the resources it takes to fight for an injunction. But under an Obama administration more unions should be following the example of the UE and using every tool they have to fight for workers' rights.