Chicago workers stand up against Bank of America

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by ctbering, Dec 8, 2008.

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  1. ctbering

    ctbering Rambling Man

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    Aldermen demand City Hall stop working with Bank of America
    Blagojevich halts state work with Bank of America over sit-in

    December 8, 2008
    BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
    Chicago aldermen turned up the heat at both ends today on behalf of laid off workers at Republic Windows & Doors whose sit-in at the shuttered Goose Island plant “struck a chord†heard around the nation.

    Flanked by union leaders at a news conference, more than a dozen aldermen demanded that City Hall divest itself of funds deposited at Bank of America — and stop approving zoning changes sought by the bank and its subsidiaries — in retaliation for the bank’s decision to cut off Republic’s line of credit

    Gov. Blagojevich visits with laid-off workers at Republic Windows & Doors on Monday. Blagojevich called for state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America until the bank restores credit to Republic.
    (Brian Jackson/Sun-Times

    Bank of America would also be prohibited from riding the gravy train of pinstripe patronage generated by city bond deals under an ordinance drafted in response to the Republic shut-down.

    The aldermen also vowed to hold City Council hearings and explore “every legal option†to force Republic to re-pay $9.3 million in tax-increment financing (TIF) funds used to build the Goose Island plant now occupied by laid-off workers.

    Ald. Joe Moore (49th) said he was incensed to learn that Republic executives have formed a limited liability corporation that has purchased a similar plant in western Iowa, where labor is cheaper. The TIF subsidy was paid in 2002 and 2003.

    “They accepted city tax dollars on the basis that they were going to remain in the city of Chicago. To accept these city tax dollars and do an about-face and run to Iowa to pay workers there less wages and fewer benefits runs contrary to the whole purpose of tax-increment-financing,†Moore said.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., who attended the news conference, agreed that “all legal leverages should be employed to stop this violation of workers†and “put TIF beneficiaries across the board on notice.â€

    Last week, Bank of America cut off a line credit to Republic citing declining sales, prompting the Goose Island company to shut down and lay off its 250 workers with a mere three days’ notice.

    The workers have attracted national attention -- and turned Republic and Bank of America into poster children for corporate greed -- by conducting a sit-in at the plant until they are paid the severence and earned vacation pay required by law.

    "This obviously struck a chord. É These workers said, 'Enough is enough.' They sat down. And everybody across the country paid attention É because everybody knows it's wrong. We have a fight here right now for these workers. They need to win -- and they will win," said Carl Rosen, president of the union that represents the laid-off workers.

    He added, “At the end of this, corporate executives who were involved in Republic are gonna land on their feet. They’re gonna have jobs. They might even have other companies. They’re still gonna be wealthy. Bank of America is still gonna be wealthy. They’re wealthy, in part, because of a lot of taxpayer dollars. These workers just want to earn a living.â€

    Bank of America has insisted it is not responsible for Republic’s financial obligations to its employees.

    But, aldermen and union leaders don’t see it that way. Not when Bank of America is using $34 billion in loans and grants from the Wall Street bailout to “expand its financial empire.â€

    “At the very least, these workers need to be paid what they earned. That’s what’s fair and that’s what’s right,†said Tom Balanoff, president of SEIU’s Illinois Council.

    “But, what’s happening there at Republic is a much bigger story than just these workers getting what they deserve. This is really a broader question of, what is our recovery really about? Is this gonna be a top-down recovery? Or is it gonna be a bottom-up recovery? Are we gonna give billions of dollars to the bankers who put us in this mess already? Or are we gonna use that money to have a recovery that lifts up working families?â€

    Also on Monday, Gov. Blagoevich met with laid-off Republic employees, then did his part to help them — by ordering state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America until the bank restores credit to Republic Windows & Doors.
     
    #1 ctbering, Dec 8, 2008
  2. carjon

    carjon New Member

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    And the Governor is now in jail.
     
    #2 carjon, Dec 9, 2008
  3. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    What a crock!

    Blagojevich was arrested this morning on charges of influence peddling, trying to force companies that got State contracts to pay him (or his family or campaign committee) kickbacks. Prosecutors even have tapes of the Governor trying to sell, to the highest bidder, the Senate seat vacated by Obama. He's probably angry because BoA refused to pay up. I hope BoA testified against him in the grand jury proceeding.

    The FED is requiring banks to take money from the bailout fund. Wells Fargo tried to refuse the money and were told they had to take it. I don't know if that's the case with BoA but it could be.

    Does anyone think it's a good idea to force Banks to make bad loans? Bad loans are what drove the economy into this pickle in the first place. Even the Republic executives feel that the company is unredeemable - that's why they moved some of the business to PA.

    I'm sorry for all the laid-off workers, especially in these difficult times. But Republic agreed to these loan terms when they borrowed the money and now they have to live with them. That's the way capitalism and the economy is supposed to work.
     
    #3 M8s, Dec 9, 2008
  4. thepolarcrew

    thepolarcrew Senior Member

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    As for bad loans, no, banks shouldn't be force fed unless they need it. Where were they when Lehman Bro went down? Selective memory.

    If they they want to force money on people, my account is available.
     
    #4 thepolarcrew, Dec 9, 2008
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    The way I heard this story - and keep in mind that I was listening to Chicago radio about a Chicago story - is that the workers did not originally start their sit-in in protest to Bank of America. They started their sit-in last week when they were all let go unexpectedly without severance of any kind. This is against union agreements.

    The company responded that they had to shut down because they ran out of money (but didn't file bankruptcy) and they couldn't afford severance because their loan request from Bank of America was denied. Bank of America has responded that they are not responsible for the company shutting down and that quite frankly they didn't think it a good investment to loan money to a business that's going out of business.

    So I now find it interesting to read that the workers are united against Bank of America.
     
    #5 TonyPSchaefer, Dec 9, 2008
  6. JSH

    JSH Senior Member

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    So if I understand the chain of events correctly:

    • City of Chicago gives Republic $9.3 million in 2002 and 2003 to build a factory in Chicago.
    • Republic builds plant and hires ~250 people
    • Republic's sales start to fall hurting their balance sheet
    • Bank of America cuts of their line of credit (which they are most likely using to cover day to day expenses like buying material and paying employees)
    • Republic shuts down due to lack of funds
    • Some executives from Republic form a new LLC to start a plant in Iowa
    • People get really pissed at Bank of America?

    I'm not sure how Bank of America is the fall guy here. It's the the Republic executives that have decided to abandon the company and breach their contract with union. The contract is useless now that the company is no longer operating, they will have to take up there severance claim with the bankruptcy court along with the rest of Republic's creditors including Bank of America.

    Now it's pretty crappy for the executives to abandon Republic and form a new company but most likely perfectly legal. In the eyes of the law, Republic corp is a stand alone person separate from the shareholders. In bankruptcy, the shareholders will loose their equity in the company but not their personal funds held outside of the company.
     
    #6 JSH, Dec 9, 2008
  7. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    I read the article multiple times trying to figure out what worthy comments or lessons could be learned from this. (The last people to blame or criticize are the workers.)

    It finally breaks through my thick skull. It's the "payments" to have the company operate in a specific location. Taking taxpayer money and bribing (legally) company executives is a bad thing. It's exactly how sports team owners manipulate various cities to get taxpayer money to add to their bottom line. The workers are innocent, the company owners bear some responsibility, BoA is hardly responsible. The city can solve the problem immediately by giving the company vastly bigger "payments" right now. Why don't they? (We all know the answer).

    It also is a small preview of how the $700 Billion bailout money will cause more problems downstream than solve now.
     
    #7 FL_Prius_Driver, Dec 9, 2008
  8. tleonhar

    tleonhar Senior Member

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    #8 tleonhar, Dec 9, 2008
  9. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    #9 M8s, Dec 9, 2008
  10. ctbering

    ctbering Rambling Man

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    For all of the dissenters please read the headline...it did not mention the pathetic governor we have who has been under federal investigation for years. ...and please for the BoA supporters, keep in mind they are participants in the bailout.......why are they hoarding the money? There is no accountability with the bailout even though the point of the bail out was to provide money to companies like this......thank you Mr. President, don't let the door slam you on the way out the door.....or better yet let it slam you..
     
    #10 ctbering, Dec 9, 2008
  11. alanh

    alanh Active Member

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    The idea behind the bailout was that viable companies were not able to get loans. The intent was not to prop up companies that were going out of business.
     
    #11 alanh, Dec 10, 2008
  12. carjon

    carjon New Member

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    BOA didn't want the money either. They are one of the few still making money but ONLY 1 billion last quarter.
    The Bank met all the requirements of their loan with the company and one of the reasons that industry is in trouble is for making loans to companies that weren't going to be able to pay it back. Not that we'll ever know but I'm sure that the original money and the additional money that BOA lent this company will never be repaid.
    To be honest to all - I work for BOA but in technology. The Bank is not always right but in this case it technically was based upon the very, very little that I know.
     
    #12 carjon, Dec 10, 2008
  13. suzydoo_98@yahoo.com

    [email protected] Junior Member

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    AHHH the ironie of some of the POSTS....
    You guys do know that BLADDEROVICH is from the same cut of cloth as our new President? SSSSHHHHH... don't tell anyone I used to live in their territory, and had to get the hell out when I found out I was paying 3% of the gross value of my property in Taxes just to pay for a College teachers pension plan... and then when looking forund out that 1/2 of the money was being funnelled back to the general fund for the state. FIGURE IT OUT.... ALL politicians are crooked, and the only change you will ever get with any of them is the change they will give you when taking your paycheck and declaring it federal funds.
    BTW; I note that with all the hubbub about this CROOKED governor- no media is making a point of using the words DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR in their stories.... none that I have seen at least.

    I assure you if he was a republican it would be in the headlines!
     
    #13 [email protected], Dec 10, 2008
  14. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    The previous governer was both a republican and in the headlines.
     
    #14 FL_Prius_Driver, Dec 10, 2008
  15. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    As they say in Wikipedia, "Citation needed"
     
    #15 Stev0, Dec 10, 2008
  16. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    The former, Republican, governor is serving a 6 year prison term for fraud and racketeering. I guess you didn't get the memo.
     
    #16 M8s, Dec 10, 2008
  17. suzydoo_98@yahoo.com

    [email protected] Junior Member

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    FL I know.. that is what I am saying... IF BLadderovich was a Repub they headline would read, Corrupt Repub. Governor arrested.....

    It did not include Dem, when he was arrested... because our media is such a biased group of PRAVDA wannabees.
     
    #17 [email protected], Dec 10, 2008
  18. suzydoo_98@yahoo.com

    [email protected] Junior Member

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    M8s... It says that if Bladderovich was a REPUB- the media would have put the fact he was in the headlines... the let out this clown was a democrat.....

    Look back to the Senator Craig Crap- the first headlines about his restroom adventures were- Republican senator caught in Gay Bathroom sting.


    They put the word repuublican in because our mainstream media is nothing but a bunch of biased wannabees. The couldn't tell an impartial unbiased story if their life depended on it. Crap in many of the stories, they gave this corrupt governor more benefit of doubt than OJ got in his murder trial.
     
    #18 [email protected], Dec 10, 2008
  19. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    LOL. I wonder if Blagojevich will be his new roomie.
     
    #19 Godiva, Dec 10, 2008
  20. ctbering

    ctbering Rambling Man

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    Let's try and get names correct, its Governor Blagojevich. If you want to slice and dice his name feel free to call him Blago, affectionately referred to from those critics everywhere, including the editorial writers for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. Some might refer to him as our Eddie Munster gone wild in Springfield Illinois.
    While I would love to dump on him I think there should be some perspective of his actions and those of George W. Blago is a small time Illinois crook that tried to line his pockets with money, any way possible, while betraying the citizens of Illinois.
    George W. is responsible for starting a war in two countries where leaving now or in the near future with a political and civilian structure intact might be close to impossible to do. George W. gave 350 billion to the financial industry in a matter of a week with no accountability for them to provide loans to the american people. He spent many more billions on the war, bankrupt the entire country and poisoned relations with the free world.
    Blago intimidated and extended bribery schemes to other small time crooks. Keep tuned to the news for Blago, dominoes (politicians involved and cooperating with the feds) have already begun to fall and we will see other small time crooks falling all over themselves to expose his actions.
    Perhaps we in Illinois must be numb to the deceit and betrayal of this Governor and other governors before him....but its no-where near the gravity of betrayal and damage George W. performed on the whole country. BTW, the financial loans were not meant to help citizens with their mortgages. I knew that but just hearing him say it made me realize in his mind, we really just are suppose to serve the financial institutions, corporations, etc....very sad!
     
    #20 ctbering, Dec 10, 2008
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