Chicago Hartmarx workers vote to sit in

On May 11, some 500 workers at the Chicago-based apparel firm Hart Schaffner Marx, or Hartmarx, held a rally and historic “sit-in” vote to fight for their jobs. Many held signs reading, “Bail Out People, Not Banks.” Wells Fargo, a Troubled Assets Relief Fund recipient, has pushed for a bankruptcy shuttering of the facility.

“Wells Fargo has received $25 billion in taxpayer assistance through TARP. In other words, the workers Wells Fargo may throw out on the street have been subsidizing its operations during these tough economic times. So much for returning the favor,” said U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, who worked for 13 years as a cutter in the men’s clothing industry. (Workers United press release, May 11)

The Hartmarx workers voted in favor of a sit-in style action, which means the workers will physically remain at their job site if Wells Fargo or a buyer tries to begin liquidation or close the factory.

Political and labor leaders are standing up for Hartmarx workers, who are members of Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees union, and denouncing Wells Fargo. Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has vowed, “Unless the company remains open, [Wells Fargo] will not be doing business with the state of Illinois any longer.”

Tom Balanoff, president of the SEIU Illinois State Council, announced May 12 that a hot line is being established to centralize information about banks and companies that have received TARP money and threaten to liquidate or close factories. He said hundreds more factories nationwide are threatening to close.

The hot line, which will allow workers to report information, is expected to be available starting May 14. This will allow organizers to be dispatched to intervene with direct action at banks and plants around the country.

With the Hartmarx workers’ struggle, the banks and bosses are being put on notice that the sit-in form of resistance may well become a popular form of workers’ response to the threat of more job losses and company closures.

Workers are learning to take action, organize community support and fight back. They are taking inspiration from the workers’ December sit-in at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago. Workers there seized the plant when Bank of America withdrew credit, forcing bosses to close the plant. This violated federal laws requiring that workers receive 60-days pre-notification and compensation.

“Voting to sit in, these workers are standing up for all of us,” stated Noel Beasley, director of the Chicago/Midwest Regional Joint Board and executive vice-president of Workers United, the union representing the Hartmarx workers, in a union press release. “The vote [May 11] says Hartmarx workers are going to hold banks accountable for how they spend taxpayers’ money and how they contribute to the future of our economy.”