Progress Illinois

During the past five days, employees at Republic Windows and Doors have shown the nation that when united, workers can take on big business and advocate for their rights on the job. Judging by the public’s response, people are sympathetic to their fight.

On that front, Illinois labor leaders are organizing a rally tomorrow in support of a people’s bailout. Led by the Chicago chapter of Jobs With Justice (JWJ) and several other unions, demonstrators will meet at the doors of Chicago’s Bank of America (BOA) office at noon to demand the bank use the billions it’s received through the federal bailout program for its intended purpose—serving the public.

BOA’s unwillingness to extend enough credit to cover overdue wages and benefits owed to the Republic employees symbolizes the sort of corporate greed that has driven the growing wealth gap that we’ve reported on before. Labor leaders see the corporate disregard for the Chicago workers as an opportunity to galvanize support for their cause.

More from the AP:

“I hope it’s the beginning of a real fight-back movement,” said Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, which represents the Republic workers, who are mostly Hispanic.

Jobs With Justice organizers said it was time to seize the moment by reviving a tactic, the sit-in, that has not been widely used in the U.S. in decades [...]

“There’s a simplicity and straightforwardness to this particular case that anybody can wrap their head around,” said James Thindwa, executive director for the Chicago office of Jobs With Justice, a national coalition of unions, community groups and other organization

Long before the Republic workers began demonstrating, JWJ set out to organize a nationwide campaign to pressure banks, corporations, and public officials to direct federal bailout money toward programs that bring job security and financial relief to everyday Americans. (We covered their efforts on the housing foreclosure crisis last month.) Even if today’s meeting between BOA, Republic, and elected officials yields results that favor the local workers, the demonstration will go on, JWJ organizer Fran Tobin tells us.

“People have been losing jobs, being downsized, and their homes foreclosed because of the economic policies that have been promoted for the past 15 years,” Tobin said. “We can’t just let corporations do what they want to do. [The Republic employees] are an example that people can fight back if they organize.”

We’ll be at the rally tomorrow, which will take place at 231 S. LaSalle St. in Chicago. Stay tuned.