Firm buys Chicago plant where workers had sit-in

CHICAGO -- The fortunes of more than 200 factory workers who came to symbolize the plight of laid-off labor last year when they staged a sit-in at a shuttered Chicago factory are looking up -- even amid waves of layoffs elsewhere.

Excitement is building among the former Republic Windows & Doors employees after a green-oriented windows maker in California said Thursday it had purchased Republic's assets and hopes to reopen the plant soon with the same workers.

"Especially in this economy, to be creating jobs is really, really exciting," said union representative Mark Meinster.

About 200 of the some 250 laid-off workers occupied the manufacturer for six days in December, demanding severance and accrued vacation pay after Republic gave them just three days' notice before closing the plant.

The protest -- with workers spending nights in sleeping bags on the factory floor and families bringing in food to the demonstrators -- drew national attention and even supportive words from then-president-elect Barack Obama.

"We hope the message people get is that when people stick together and speak out for their rights, good things can happen," Meinster said Thursday. "If they hadn't stood up for themselves in December, I'm not sure we'd be here now."

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Serious Materials, which purchased factory assets for around $1.5 million, has already signed a contract to first offer jobs to the former staffers, Meinster said. The plant could be up and running in a month, he said.

Serious Materials chief executive officer Kevin Surace said the company has agreed to rehire workers, but noted several steps still need to be taken before the plant can reopen.

"If we can do all those things, everybody's going to get their jobs back," he said. "But there has to be a place to work first -- and the equipment has to work. We're not quite there yet."

That note of caution didn't dampen the spirits of workers, many of whom have so far failed to find new employment.

"It's been rough lately -- with no jobs to be had," said Ron Bender, a 56-year-old who worked for 14 years at Republic. "My wife said I would get back out of the house -- so it's good news for her as well."

Another worker sounded equally thrilled.

"We want to get back to work and do what we do best," Ricky Maclin said.

Republic filed for bankruptcy shortly after the December sit-in. A federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Republic's assets to Serious Materials on Wednesday.

Ironically, that sale came as the owner of Republic Windows, Richard Gillman, announced earlier this week he was closing another windows plant, Echo Windows, in Red Oak, Iowa; that closure eliminated 100 jobs.

In a Sunday statement about the Iowa plant, Gillman partly blamed its difficulties on negative publicity generated by the Chicago sit-n, saying that it, "in all likelihood, made nervous customers hesitant to engage in business contacts with us."

But in a Thursday interview, Gillman said he was happy to hear Serious Materials hoped to reopen the plant.

"I'm ecstatic the employees will have work," he said. "That was always my objective."

The outlook for Serious Materials does appear comparatively rosy.

Despite dire straits for much of the rest of the U.S. economy, Surace said demand for the energy-efficient windows made by Serious Materials at several plants around the country remains strong.

He also noted that the nearly $800 billion federal economic stimulus includes more than $30 billion for environmentally friendly products.

"We don't believe we'll get the whole $30 billion," Surace said, laughing. "But we fully intend to take advantage of all parts of the bill that apply to us."