Chicago Tribune: Republic Windows and Doors (of the sit in) workers file labor board charges

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-factory-disputejan07,0,2306714.story

They tell federal board shutdown, equipment relocation unfair

By Robert Mitchum | Tribune reporter
January 7, 2009

A month after their six-day factory sit-in captured the attention of a nation worried about the economy and job security, the workers of Republic Windows and Doors renewed their fight Tuesday by filing a charge with the National Labor Relations Board against their former employer.

The charge says Richard Gillman, the majority owner of Republic Windows, failed to notify or negotiate with his employees about closing the Goose Island plant and transferring machinery and business to a new plant in Iowa.

Representatives and an attorney for the union representing Republic employees said that they hope the NLRB will order Gillman to return the machinery to the Chicago plant, facilitating the potential reopening of the factory under a new owner. Members of Gillman's family formed a new company, Echo Windows, which bought a windows-manufacturing plant in Red Oak, Iowa, shortly before the Chicago plant closed.

"The union is asking the board to demand, among other things, the return of the machinery, the clients and the jobs to Chicago," said Laurie Burgess, the attorney filing the charges. "The workers at Republic are standing up for their rights and demanding a stake in their future."

In a statement, Gillman said he was surprised by the union's charges.

"While management and labor have different roles in a company, we were all joined for many months in open efforts to keep Republic Windows in existence while the economy collapsed for many businesses, including ours," the statement read. "Now that the company has been forced into bankruptcy liquidation, we no longer have control over any matters and therefore have no ability to comment on them."

FULL story at link.