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My fear that we are reliving the late 1920s and early 1930s got a little firmer today. Today we heard of the bankruptcy of the Tribune Company and major layoffs at companies like Anheuser Busch. (I mean, beer ought to be recession-proof, right?)
I worry about all the families trying to eke out an existence on unemployment insurance payments. I worry about all the families facing homelessness, despite having a good job (often two good jobs), because they made a mistake about what kind of mortgage to take. And I worry about the business owners who are faced with the decision whether to risk everything in hopes that things will get better or go out of business before their financial situation worsens.
Which brings us to Republic Doors and Windows. In case you missed the story, this relatively small Illinois company announced to its workers last week that, having been denied access to their accustomed credit line at the local Bank of America, they were closing the plant down last Friday. They gave their 300 workers three days’ notice and indicated that there was no money to give them severance packages or even payment for accrued vacation time.
But those three days were a mistake. It gave the workers time to craft a protest. Instead of leaving last Friday, they staged a sit-in. They scheduled themselves to break up the sit-in so that there is always someone in the plant. They organized the delivery of food and drink. They made appearances in the media stating their determination to prevent the company from selling the doors and windows in the plant – doors and windows they built – before paying them what is owed them.
It reminds me of the actions of unions during the Depression that eventually led to the various laws giving unions the right to protect their members from all the dirty tricks that management engaged in to prevent the organization of their workers. It reminds me of the determination shown by the World War I veterans of the Bonus Expeditionary Force, who marched in Washington in the summer and fall of 1932, trying to get the bonus they felt they had been promised. It reminds me of how good Americans can be to one another when circumstances demand it.
And that tempers my fear with hope.
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2 comments:
In their case, however, it may be counterproductive.
As I understand the story, Republic Doors and Windows was about to shut down completely. The doors and windows these workers had already built would need to be sold to pay off creditors (who might include the workers).
Now, I agree the employees should be paid before other creditors--it's only fair. But preventing the company from selling the doors and windows in the factory won't magically make the money needed to pay these workers appear and in fact will only make the company's situations worse.
The sit-down strikes of the 1930s were against large, industrial companies that were not going anywhere--Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, Ford. This strike is against a small company that's about to shutter its doors.
Ah, yes! The strikes that got the most attention were against big companies. But there were plenty of times when workers and owners worked together to prevent a closure.
It is the spirit of working together toward a common goal that gives me hope, not the strike itself.
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