Workers staging a sit-in on the factory floor of their former Chicago employer to protest abruptly losing their jobs last week awaited a meeting between their union and the company yesterday.
The 200 workers demanding severance and vacation pay have become a national symbol for thousands of employees laid off across the US as the economy continues to sour.
On Sunday, they received words of support from US president-elect Barack Obama and a visit from the Reverend Jesse Jackson.
PHOTO: AP
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also said her office was investigating their former employer, Republic Windows and Doors.
“We never expected this,” said Melvin Maclin, a factory employee and vice president of the local union that represents the workers.
“We expected to go to jail,” he said.
At a news conference on Sunday, Obama said Republic should follow through on its commitments to its workers.
The workers say they would not leave the plant until they are assured they would receive their severance and vacation pay.
“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,” Obama said.
Jackson delivered turkeys, pledging the support of his Chicago-based civil rights group, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
“These workers deserve their wages, deserve fair notice, deserve health security,” Jackson said. “This may be the beginning of long struggle of worker resistance finally.”
Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers union that represents the workers, said the company told the union that Bank of America had canceled its financing.
The bank had said in a statement that it was not responsible for Republic’s financial obligations to its employees.
Republic has not commented on the sit-in.
One of the factory’s workers, Silvia Mazon, said in Spanish she needs the money owed her for an US$1,800 monthly house payment.
The 40-year-old from Cicero said she has enough money saved to survive for one month.
“We’re making history,” she said.
Illinois Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky called it the start of a movement.
“This story has resonated around the world,” she said.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS