Chicago Workers to Rest of Country: 'Dont Let It Die'

Late last night, the workers ended their sit-in after the Bank of America, which had cut off financing for the company, agreed to lend the company $1.35 million to pay workers their severance packages. JPMorgan Chase, which owns 40 percent of the windows company, said it would pay an additional $400,000. NAM associate editor David Bacon examines the issue.

Chicago worker Raul Floress job is gone, but hes still there. "I've got a family to support, so I've got to do whatever it takes," he says. "The economic situation is not good, but I can't just wait for something to happen to me."

That puts Flores in the same boat as millions of other U.S. workers. Last month alone 533,000 workers lost their jobs, the highest figure in 34 years. A week ago, the heads of the big three auto companies were in Washington D.C., pleading for loans to keep their companies afloat. As a price, lawmakers and pundits told them, they had to become "leaner and meaner," and in response, General Motors announced it would close nine plants and put tens of thousands of workers in the street. Ford and Chrysler described a similar job-elimination strategy.

Flores didnt just accept the elimination of his job. Instead, he's been sitting, since last Friday, in the Chicago plant where he worked, together with 240 other union members at Republic Windows and Doors.

Read More