Posted on 12/10/2008 5:31:37 AM PST by andrew roman
The great strategists of all-time - military commanders, entrepreneurs, inventors, kings, super bowl champion head coaches, campaign-season Obamacrats - whoever they happen to be, have nothing on a group of laid-off-workers-turned-protestors (nearing two hundred) who are refusing to vacate a factory that closed its doors on December 5th. Needless to say, the situation has ripened into yet another "Union versus the Evil Ones" cage match.
Ever since All Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago closed up shop five days ago, the band of disgruntled employees have decided to employ a "stay put and wait" strategy, resisting the shut down - a good old fashioned dye-in-the-wool, Age of Aquarius, flop-down-and-teach-'em-a-lesson sit-in.
And apparently, it may be working.
According to a story posted at CNN Money.com early Tuesday evening, Bank of America - who originally cut off the company's financing three days before the place closed down - may be giving in to the protestors:
Bank of America said Tuesday it is prepared to extend credit to (the) Chicago window and door maker....
The factory closed after Bank of America canceled its financing. The workers said the company notified them three days before the impending shutdown. Federal law requires either 60 days notice or 60 days pay for the laid-off workers.
Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) spokeswoman Diane Wagner said Republic Windows & Doors LLC maxed out its financing, and the bank had been "working with Republic for quite some time."
In a statement, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank said it sent a letter to the manufacturer indicating that it may provide a limited amount of additional loans to Republic.
The employees are demanding severance and vacation pay owed to them - and to many, the ruckus has come to symbolize the state of the American economy. It is the latest "Us versus Them" apalogue that Democrats - and thus, by default, unions - exist for. These are the new protagonists, the new "Joe the Plumbers" - the everyday folks looking to survive in a corrupt and selfish world of big money players and fat cat money hoarders - only this time, the workers jump at the behest of the union, unlike the real Joe the Plumber, who more suitably characterized the "free market never lies" credo.
To make the story all the more juicy, the workers - who occupy the factory in eight hour shifts, consisting of 50 or 60 people at a time - are effectively holding the materials in the plant hostage. The fired workers, as CBS 2 in Chicago reports, "say the remaining doors, windows, and machinery are the only collateral they have left in their fight to get what they feel they are owed."
Before he was busted on corruption charges and arrested on Tuesday, Governor Rod Blagojevich, on Monday, practically called the sit-inners heroes, announcing that the State of Illinois would no longer conduct business with Bank of America.
Nice job, Blago.
The ever-less-than-relevant Jesse Jackson showed up on Sunday, bringing turkeys and, no doubt, abysmal rhymes about workers' rights ... or something equally inane.
Even the next President openly supported the actions of the occupiers, saying," The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy."
Centrist, my buns.
And naturally, Bank of America is taking heat because even though their palms were greased with federal bailout money, they still cut off financing for the troubled window and door manufacturer - and thus, sparked the predictable screeching from those who want to know why it's okay to bailout corporations, but not "little guy."
More class warfare crap.
Actually, it isn't okay to use taxpayer dollars to bailout any failing businesses, but that's a topic for a different article.
It is distressing - and above all contemptible - to see this kind of appeasement given to a group of foot-stamping, breath-holding blackmailers.
Do these folks believe that the owners and operators of All Republic wanted the business to fail?
Do they think that there is really a stash of secret big-wig cash tucked away in someone's meat freezer, waiting to fill the wallets of higher-ups once the peons leave the factory and go home?
Before Bank of America decided that it would bend over and grab the ankles for the unions (despite what they say to the contrary), where did these "gimmee gimmee" merchants believe the money was supposed to come from?
My Lord, people, this wasn't a wage issue or a contractual stalemate. The damn company went belly-up.
It died.
There was no more money.
That was the point.
As much as some demand to have the rose garden they were never promised - and somehow feel entitled to - it just isn't possible to trump real world laws of success and failure with a bunch of "ought to be" fantasy-land drivel.
One thing I will agree with ... This is, indeed, an "Us versus Them" issue ...
Obligation versus entitlement.
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