It had been a good job. The roughly 240 union workers at the plant -- 80% of them Latino -- earned an average of $14 an hour, and received medical coverage and retirement benefits, according to Leah Fried, an organizer for Local 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
When they heard the news, some workers were furious. Others cried. Rangel panicked. His wife had been sick for weeks and had recently seen the family physician.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Worker sit-in: A photo caption in Tuesday's Section A with an article about a worker sit-in at the Republic Windows and Doors plant in Chicago misidentified Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich. He is at the center of the photo shown above
"I got a call from the doctors. The insurance company said they won't pay because the company canceled all our policies and didn't tell us," Rangel said. "I have a mortgage. I have a child. What do we do if he gets sick?"
On Friday, the workers' union was slated to meet with the factory's owners and Bank of America officials. But the company's executives failed to show, Fried said. The meeting never happened.
When word reached the workers -- who remained on the factory floor after their shifts had ended, waiting to hear the outcome of the meeting -- they held a vote over what to do.
The result was unanimous: Sit down and stay.
Company officials could not be reached for comment.
Bank of America said that it is the manufacturer -- not its lender -- who is at fault for failing to pay employees.
"When a company faces such a dire situation, its lender is not empowered to direct the company's management how to manage its affairs and what obligations should be paid," the North Carolina-based financial institution said in a statement. "Such decisions belong to the management and owners of the company."
Inside the factory's crowded lobby, hand-scrawled signs of support from local residents and area workers covered the mustard-and-white walls.
"Thank you for showing us all how to fight back!" wrote one person. Another opined: "Here's to change, from the bottom up."
Fellow union workers streamed through the factory's glass front doors throughout the day, toting stacks of pastry boxes and trays piled high with homemade tamales. Friends arrived with fresh changes of clothing. Women pushing strollers, with their toddlers swaddled in fuzzy Superman blankets, tearfully embraced their husbands, siblings and grandparents -- happy to be reunited, if only briefly.
Inside the cafeteria, dozens of workers sipped cooling coffee, while others leaned against the concrete walls and tried to doze, workers said.
Even if the workers win, Fried said, the amount they would receive is relatively modest. On average, the company would owe each worker an average of about $6,250, according to union officials.
That's enough for Cabrera. His last paycheck, for $400, comes Friday. It will just be enough, he said, to pay the mortgage for one more month.
