Progress Illinois

Some more good news may be on the horizon for the former Republic Windows workers. Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) tells us that a new manufacturing business could open at the vacated Chicago plant in a matter of weeks, putting some of the laid-off Republic employees back to work.

According to the freshman North Side alderman, the owners of California-based Serious Materials were so moved by the workers’ uprising last month that they phoned up city officials expressing interest in reviving the company. In a matter of days, Serious presented a plan to continue making windows and eventually manufacture other green products at the Goose Island factory. Negotiations are ongoing.

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. Here’s what Waguespack told us about the potential new owners:

“These guys are a union company and that’s what they’re going to be. That’s what they want. They need competent workers to get the plant up and running again. And they believe in what they did.”

As of now, Serious is negotiating with Republic’s creditors, which are sorting through the company’s bankruptcy case. If all goes well, within four weeks the deal could be final and a crew—albeit scaled back—could be back on the factory floor. We noted yesterday that United Electrical (UE) Local 1110 members are doing their part to keep what’s left of the Republic factory together. They filed a complaint with the National Labor Review Board in hopes of forcing Republic to return the equipment they recently moved to Iowa.

It’s likely that the creditors will step in to recover the assets, Waguespack says. By by keeping pressure on Republic’s owners, UE is doing its part to keep the factory in shape for a quick sale.

And timing is key on striking the deal. “Within weeks. That’s how fast we have to do it,” says Waguespack. “The further out you put it, the companies that were buying windows [from Republic] will go elsewhere to get business.”

Shortly after its initial publication, this post was temporarily taken down at the request of the United Electrical Workers union, who worried that it might interfere with the ongoing negotations.  It was republished on January 14.