Comments on: The 1930s Really Are Here Again: Workers Occupy Chicago Window Plant

By: The Ruling Class, the NYPD, the New School and Broken Windows | The Activist

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:28:44 +0000

[...] successful negotiation). Remember the surprisingly favorable and widespread coverage the Republic Windows occupation got in the mainstream media? The NYU students and New School students certainly [...]

By: Jason Schulman

Jason Schulman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:43:18 +0000

Victory!: See here: http://www.ueunion.org/uenewsupdates.html?news=438

By: Adrian Bleifuss Prados

Adrian Bleifuss Prados — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:53:26 +0000

I wrote up a brief description of what I saw at Republic Windows here:

http://theactivist.org/blog/dispatch-from-republic-windows

By: Jason Schulman

Jason Schulman — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:37:36 +0000

Socialist historians Nelson Lichtenstein and Christopher Phelps have written an op-ed on the factory occupation:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/08/lichtenstein.chicago.labor/index.html

By: Bhaskar Sunkara

Bhaskar Sunkara — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:21:50 +0000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/08/AR2008120803409.html this should force Bank of America's hand. Hopefully this inspires other workers to take over closing factories, the major step for the movement will be when workers demand not just severance but the change to operate the factories by themselves, with government protection, as cooperatives. The importance of Kautsky's Erfurt Programme which talked about the necessity to merge socialism with the labor movement shouldn't be underestimated. It is no surprise that it took an UE union with a history of radicalism and leftist leaders to spark this here.

By: Jason Schulman

Jason Schulman — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:53:26 +0000

See also these posts at DSA’s Talking Union site:

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/ue-report-on-chicago-factory-occupation/

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/update-on-glass-and-windows-factory-occupation-in-chicago/

By: David Duhalde

David Duhalde — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:36:15 +0000

Chris is right – let’s take Obama’s words and inspire some more pro-worker actions around the country. I was watching a CNN news story on UE which was followed by a report on UAW workers going to lobby in Washington in carpools (take that private jets of the big three). I never had seen such consecutive pro-union reporting on a mainstream media outlet.

By: Chris Maisano

Chris Maisano — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:30:42 +0000

Let’s start getting those “President Obama Wants You To Occupy Your Workplace” signs ready. For background we can use the picture of him pointing forcefully while wearing sunglasses.

By: Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:59:21 +0000

Good thing to see. UE organized public employees in my state, and has been one of the few unions to be active on our CB ban. Actually, they have been THE organization against the ban. They are known for being a very activist union. They’re also a democratic union, run fully by worker democracy. Their ostracization by the major unions in the 1950s due to their unwillingness to engage in the red baiting of the 1940s ended up playing quite well, it seems, as now they’re independent and able to avoid having to conform. My hope is that they get an image boost from this. We need a union independent from the big union blocs to challenge the Democrats and their unions.

http://www.ueunion.org/

By: Jason Schulman

Jason Schulman — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:23:36 +0000

Obama plays FDR, at least rhetorically: http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1318766,barack-obama-republic-window-doors-120708.article And John Nichols of the Nation picks up on the analogy: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/388449?rel=hp_picks