New York Times, December 8, 2008, Monday

New York Times

December 8, 2008, Monday

New York Times

Of Sit-Ins and Bailouts

By Liz Robbins

Armed with the support of President-elect Barack Obama and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, the workers conducting the sit-in at Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors have another weapon: the sharp spear of bad publicity aimed at a bailed-out bank.

Bank of America canceled its line of credit to Republic, and the factory owners closed without giving their employees the federally mandated 60-day notice.

Holding signs of “Bank ‘Robbers’ of America,” and refusing to leave the factory since last Friday, the workers showed how effective a 70-year-old union tool could be, and how far the nation has come — or circled back — since then.

The United Auto Workers’ sit-in strike at the General Motors plant in Flint, Mich., at the end of 1936 through the early days of 1937 propelled the fledgling union into national prominence and ignited a wave of sit-down strikes. Although that strike was used as a bargaining tool to strengthen the union, the principle, if not the principals, are back in the news.


“The leverage that the workers have in this case is that not only did Bank of America get a bailout, we all know that the first things the top officers did was pay themselves,” Kate Bronfenbrenner, the director of Labor Education Research at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said in a telephone interview on Monday. “This is happening at the same time where we are giving the automakers such a hard time, asking what they were going to do with the money from the bailouts, and yet, there was no oversight with Wall Street.”

Bank of America received $25 billion of the $700 billion federal bailout yet pulled its line of credit with the factory. Members of the Local Union 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America picketed in front of the bank in Chicago last Wednesday, when they told the factory would close. That did not stop the process, so they went to the sit-in.

The workers are sitting in a closed factory to reclaim the lost wages due to the workers under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires companies to give their employees’ 60 days notice before closing plants or initiating mass layoffs — or pay 60 days’ compensation.

A spokeswoman for Bank of America said the bank had no control over whether Republic paid its workers. A meeting is scheduled for Monday evening with representatives from the bank, the company and the Local 1110.

The workers may not be able to get the factory running again, but they have stalled the company from selling its equipment. A sit-in can be particularly effective because workers “target the key decision makers and interfere with their relationships, in this case, with the public right now,” Ms. Bronfenbrenner said.

This highly publicized drama could spur a new wave of protests. “Workers start to learn from each other,” Ms. Bronfenbrenner said. “If this works, others are going to try it. Already you’re seeing unions rallying behind them from all over the country and over the world.”

Among other Internet postings, a Facebook group, “In Solidarity with the Chicago workers of Republic Windows and Doors,” is sponsoring a petition and drawing posts from around the world.

A fascinating subtext to this scene is Mr. Obama’s endorsement of the workers, even though sit-ins are illegal. For the president-elect, said Ms. Bronfenbrenner, “there is a greater moral issue here — the employer is violating the law.”

For now, Mr. Obama’s position is symbolic. During the famous Flint sit-in strike, Michigan’s governor Frank Murphy set a precedent for upholding this moral responsibility by sending in the National Guard to protect, not evict, the striking workers. Mr. Murphy served as mediator to end the strike.

Mr. Obama introduced the concept of morality Sunday on “Meet the Press” when talking about how the auto industry needed certain conditions before receiving a bailout, including finding ways for workers to keep their jobs and health care.

“Part of what I’m hoping to introduce as the next president,” he said, “is a new ethic of responsibility.”