The Best Gift We Can Give: Ourselves
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The Rev. Nelson Johnson is pastor of Faith Community Church and executive director of the Beloved Community Center, in Greensboro, N.C. He is the recent past national co-president of Interfaith Worker Justice and, this summer, joined in prayer with tobacco workers and Baldemar Velásquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). The Rev. Nelson reminds us here how fundamental to the union movement are the ways in which we give of ourselves.
The fullness of Christmas is upon us. For tens of millions, Christmas is the most significant holiday of the year. In fact it’s more than a day: Christmas is an entire season. Perhaps no other holiday season involves us in such a range of activities and emotions. Christmas is a season of sharing gifts with loved ones and being charitable toward total strangers; it is a season for gatherings of family, co-worker and religious entities. It is a period of reflection and commitment. Christmas is a season of renewed hope and new possibilities, proclaiming peace on earth and good will (or justice) to all.
Three Cheers for Workers Who Waged the Sit-In
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Congratulations to workers at Republic Windows & Doors who made justice happen. After a six-day sit-in at the plant, workers at Republic Windows & Doors in Chicago voted to accept a settlement late last night.
This from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) site, via Jobs with Justice:
The settlement totals $1.75 million. It will provide the workers with:
- Eight weeks of pay they are owed under the federal WARN Act;
- Two months of continued health coverage; and
- Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.
JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the “Window of Opportunity Fund” dedicated to re-opening the plant.
Victory for the Sit-In Strikers
This just in from AP:
Bank of America says it will extend credit to a Chicago window and door manufacturer whose workers have occupied the factory for five days.
The bank says it’s willing to give the Republic Windows and Doors factory “a limited amount of additional loans” so it can resolves claims of employees who have staged a sit-in since Friday.
This is the same Bank of America that, after receiving $25 million in taxpayer bailout cash, cut off the company’s line of credit. The factory closed Friday and told workers they would not receive severance and accrued vacation pay.
Worker Sit-In Highlights the Shift in the Political Winds
What a difference an election makes. Here’s what President-elect Barack Obama has to say about the 250 workers in Chicago who have staged a peaceful sit-in at the factory they worked at after it closed without paying them their salaries. From Bloomberg:
“I think they’re absolutely right,” Obama said today in response to a question at a Chicago news conference. “And understand that what’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.”
Obama said the workers are justified in demanding their benefits and pay.
