It’s been a month since the workers at Republic Windows and Doors won the wages and benefits owed to them by standing up to the company’s owners after they abruptly shut down the factory with no warning.

Now, after weeks of negotiation, the United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 1110 announced this morning that they and city officials are in the final stages of cutting a deal with a new owner for the Goose Island manufacturing facility. The Tribune has the details:

Under the deal, the building and assets of Republic Windows and Doors, which closed abruptly Dec. 5 and declared bankruptcy Dec. 15, would be purchased by Serious Materials, a company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., that produces green building materials [...]

Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace confirmed that the deal was close, but that the decision currently rested with the bankruptcy judge’s decision.

Surace said he learned of the factory’s closure from national media coverage of the workers’ sit-in.

“It was very sad to see what looks like it could be a world-class operation just fall on terrible hard times and then all of the workers quite abruptly laid off,” Surace said. “We saw a great opportunity with a great facility and great workers.”

We first reported on these negotiations more than a week ago, but temporarily pulled that initial post at the request of our friends at UE, who were concerned it could have an effect on the deal.  As we wrote then:

The two business philosophies on display here present a startling contrast: Republic uproots its company to open a cheaper, non-union shop in Iowa while Serious seeks out union workers thousands of miles away from its home base.

Another encouraging byproduct of the Republic Windows saga is the increased interest in TIF reform among certain members of the Chicago City Council. We’re hoping to also see some victories on that front in the near future.