The sit-in may be over, but the former workers at Republic Windows and Doors aren’t finished with the owners of the now-defunct company.

Today, United Electrical Workers Local 1110 will ask the National Labor Relations Board to issue an injunction forcing Republic’s owners to return machinery to the Chicago factory.  From their press release:

Workers are charging the company with shutting down operations without negotiating the decision to do so as required by law, not bargaining in good faith regarding the effects of the shutdown, and improperly setting up a new operation.

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 .

Aside from holding the company accountable for abruptly shutting down the Goose Island plant in violation of federal labor laws, an injunction would also send a sharp message to other companies thinking about pulling a fast one on their workforce.

Republic owners cried broke when they closed the company last month. But that claim seemed suspect considering they were in the process of establishing a similar factory in Iowa. Lo and behold, that’s exactly where the equipment in question has been shipped. We recently pointed out that labor leaders in the Hawkeye State have cast a wary eye at the new arrival.

We’ll have more after the press conference at 11a.m. today. Check out our past Republic Windows coverage here.

Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user ueunion.