From Occupation to Workers Control

[Dan Clore]

News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/07-7
Thursday, February 7, 2013 by Shareable
A New Era: From Occupation to Workers' Control
by Willie Osterweil

This week, Strike Debt tweeted out triumphantly: �It�s a new era. First
machine fired up at worker owned factory. #NewEraWindowsandDoors�. For
those of us who�ve been following news about the Chicago factory
formerly known as Republic Windows and Doors, this was the culmination
of years of struggle. It�s an exciting moment, and a victory which
hopefully can inspire other factories across the country.

Though the factory had been making windows and doors since 1965, our
story starts in 2008 with the financial crisis and the actions of Bank
of America. Despite having received billions in tax dollars, Bank of
America (and other major banks) spent much of 2008 cutting off
struggling small businesses or businesses with low returns�not because
they couldn�t afford to lend to them, but to improve their balance
sheets. Republic Windows and Doors lost their credit line in late 2008
(just a few days after BOA received $25 billion in bailout money) and
summarily fired their 250 workers in three days, without either the 60
days notice or the 60 days severance required by the WARN act.

A common story, perhaps, but at Republic Windows and Doors the workers
didn�t acquiesce. Instead, in December of 2008, they occupied the
factory for six days, bringing major national news coverage, and won
their severance. It�s important to remember that in 2008, occupation was
seen more as a labor action from the 30s then a common tactic for
protest on the left.

In February 2009, the plant was purchased by Serious Energy, and
reopened, with many of the workers returning to their previous union
contracts. It seemed like a major victory, and things went well at the
factory for a time. But then, in February of 2012, sudden closure was
again announced, this time by the new bosses. Once again, workers
rallied to the factory, this time with a big wave of support from Occupy
Chicago, and though their occupation only lasted 11 hours, they won fair
severance pay once more.

But now, rather than wait for another boss to just repeat the cycle, the
workers are taking control of the factory. In May of 2012, they
incorporated as a democratically run worker-owned cooperative, and
they�ve begun purchasing the machinery in the factory bit by bit. They
have the support of their union, the United Electrical Workers, as well
as the micro-finance solidarity economy organization Working World.

There are massive challenges facing any worker owned cooperative,
particularly in the beginning, as raising capital and buying the factory
and machines can be quite difficult. With the first machines running,
the appropriately named New Era Windows and Doors company is on the
right track. In this period of leveraged buy outs and union-busting,
they stand as an inspiration to other workers, showing how to bring
democracy and worker power into the factories.
Willie Osterweil

Willie Osterweil is a writer and punk singer based in Brooklyn, NY. When
he's not overseas taking part in revolutions, Willie edits the A/V
section for The New Inquiry and fronts the band Vulture Shit.



--
Dan Clore

New book: _Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon_:
http://tinyurl.com/yd3bxkw
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-unspeakable-and-others/6124911
Lord We�rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo

"From the point of view of the defense of our society,
there only exists one danger -- that workers succeed in
speaking to each other about their condition and their
aspirations _without intermediaries_."
--Censor (Gianfranco Sanguinetti), _The Real Report on
the Last Chance to Save Capitalism in Italy_