Almost three months ago, I (among others on Open Salon) blogged here about the occupation of the Republic Windows & Doors factory by its workers, who were laid off without the severance pay legally owed to them by the owners. Three months later, it appears that the workers have come out ahead - for now, at least.

As reported on February 26 in a blog entry by Andrea Caputo at Progress Illinois (a site sponsored by the SEIU Illinois State Council), "Yesterday, a bankruptcy court signed off on [a bid by a California company called Serious Materials] to buy the factory and, under an agreement between the new owners and UE Local 1110 [the workers' union], all of the former Republic workers will eventually be making eco-friendly windows at union-wages."

Better still, from the workers' perspective, Caputo quotes the UE as stating that "Serious Materials has also reached agreement with UE Local 1110, ensuring that all former Republic employees will be rehired at their former rate of pay. The UE will continue to represent workers at the factory. "

Direct non-violent labor action, backed by the union, not only got the workers their severance pay, but also, in the long run, got them their jobs back - still under a union contract, and working for an eco-friendly company, to boot. It even has a cherry-on-top of schadenfreude , because - as Adam Doster at Progress Illinois reported on February 23 - the non-union plant in Iowa that the former owner of the Republic factory tried to start ended up going bust and closing (shafting yet another group of workers in the process, but this time with no union to protect them). The Seattle Times, which covered the story on February 27, quoted the former owner as saying that "The labor strife, continuous labor media stories and accusations, which accompanied the closing of the Chicago company, added to the difficulties in a troubled economy."

 This is a feel-good story, to be sure. On the other hand, as I noted at the time in my original blog entry, the workers who occupied the plant after Republic closed it were "only demanding the vacation and severance pay they are owed, rather than demanding that the plant be turned over to them for operation under their control." I'm very glad that the workers have their jobs back, but they're still dependent on the good will of their new corporate master. And even under a good master, a wage slave is still a wage slave.