Melville House Books

This is the latest installment in the ongoing Melville House “Live Book” project, Revolt on Goose Island, by Kari Lydersen ….

Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice, leading the gospel song, "I told Satan get thee behind, victory is mine today!"

Chicago, December 16, 2008 — “In the religious community we say Satan is alive and well and takes many forms,” declared Kim Bobo, a slender animated woman in a purple blouse who is the executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice and recently published a book called Wage Theft in America. “Sometimes the form is the Republic owners, sometimes it’s the Bank of America.”

With the kind of faith-inspired hyperbole that got Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright in trouble, Bobo launched the crowd into one of several rousing sing-alongs at the victory celebration for the Republic Workers in the grand ballroom of Teamster City, practically across the street from the UE Hall where strategy for the occupation was hashed out.

“I told Satan to get thee behind, I told Satan to get thee behind. I told Satan to get thee behind, victory today is mine,” Bobo led the crowd in belting out the gospel song, with an accompanying hand jerk to tell Satan to get the hell behind.

Republic worker Raul Flores snaps cell phone photos of local protest singer Chuy Negrete crooning the tune he wrote about the occupation.

Religious leaders, top union officials, local politicians, workers from other shuttered factories and a wide range of activists and community supporters turned out for the celebration, with numerous speeches extolling how the factory occupation has breathed new life into the labor movement and given hope to workers everywhere. It was yet another sign that a militant tactic which might have been frowned upon by politicians and the union establishment in different times is now being embraced with enthusiasm. A representative of Congressman Luis Gutierrez said their office has been flooded with calls from laid-off workers looking to organize since the occupation, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky declared the Republic workers had made her feel “humbled…thrilled…and grateful.”

“This is one battle in a long struggle to take back our economy and take back our country for working folks,” said Fran Tobin of Jobs with Justice, which organized solidarity rallies nationwide during the occupation.

Workers laid off from Heinemann Bakery three years ago with one day notice are still fighting for pay due them; they are inspired by the Republic victory: Martin Quiroz, Genaro Rodriguez, Gregorio Gonzalez and Juan Tlaseca.

Workers laid off from a Chicago Heinemann bakery in 2005 with only one day notice, according to former employee Gregorio Gonzalez, said they wished they had had the kind of support and organization the Republic workers are enjoying. Heinemann had promised them severance and vacation pay and extended health insurance, but the promises never materialized. Eventually about 100 workers took a settlement of $1,000 from the company. Gonzalez and three other former Heinemann employees who joined him at Teamster City said they are owed between $16,000 and $22,000, and hence refused to take the settlement — “it’s not just, that’s nothing compared to what we’re owed,” said Gonzalez, 48. This fall a judge ruled in their favor, but they still haven’t seen the money. With 15 through 27 years at Heinemann, none of them were able to get jobs with as much pay and seniority. One of the workers, Genaro Rodriguez, 28, got work at another bakery, Gonella, which has also since closed down. He now has no job to support his seven-month-old daughter, whose picture he carries on his cell phone.

“We need to apply some pressure, because Heinemann is still in business (at other locations, and distributing nationally),” Gonzalez said. “They are a big company, they can afford to pay us.”

The drumbeat of bad news on the labor and economic fronts continued in recent days. Over the weekend Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel announced it will close a steel mill in Granite City, Ill., a Detroit area site and an iron ore processing operation in Minnesota, meaning job losses for about 3,500 people. Many of the Granite City workers got pink slips the same day Republic Windows closed — Dec. 5. (See a Chicago Tribune report here.)

At a Wisconsin fan factory, 164 workers also just learned they will be laid off before Christmas. (See another Trib report here.)

Meanwhile, with the auto bailout up in the air, Midwestern states are likely to lose thousands more jobs.

But this climate seemed to only fuel the feeling of jubilation and determination in Teamster City. The 300-some people rose and joined hands to sing Solidarity Forever, aided by the lyrics projected on a screen between parallel Christmas trees, American flags and Teamster emblems. With the lights out, the blue screen showing the Solidarity Forever lyrics became a backdrop for the silhouettes of raised fists.

“History and change has always been about collective action, which is what the UE did last week,” said Larry Spivak, president of the Illinois Labor History Society earlier in the program, invoking Chicago’s status as home of the legendary Haymarket martyrs. “The problem we have is most people don’t remember our stories. Let’s keep telling this story and keep history alive.”

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All photos © Kari Lydersen