Workers United members at the Hart Schaffner & Marx (known as Hartmarx) menswear factory in Des Plaines, IL, make suits for President Obama, but their jobs may not make the cut.
Despite receiving $25 billion in federal government-backed money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), Wells Fargo, creditor for parent company Hartmarx, is putting short-term profits over the survival of this longstanding company by trying to force the suit maker into liquidation. A group of congressmen headed by U.S. Rep. Phil Hare--a former Hartmarx worker--is charging that by refusing to extend credit to Hartmarx and lowering its borrowing capacity, Wells Fargo is backpedaling on a promise to keep the firm afloat until it can be sold.
Why Wells Fargo isn't trying harder to keep Hartmarx alive?
Hartmarx employees are understandably angry over Wells Fargo's actions, which forced the company that has been producing high-quality clothing apparel for over 100 years to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. "I can't believe that a bank that got some of this money would turn around and do us like this," said Ruby Sims, a 32-year employee of Hart Schaffner Marx menswear and president of the Chicago Midwest Region of Workers United, which represents 450 to 500 workers at the plant.
More and more, the situation seems similar to of the battle over Chicago's Republic Windows & Doors last year. In that instance, workers staged a peaceful sit-in in an effort to recover severance pay when the company shut down after Bank of America canceled its financing. Republic workers, political figures and millions of American taxpayers couldn't fathom how a bank that had just accepted $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money--money that was intended to get their credit flowing again--could not even manage to extend enough credit to the plant to meet its legal obligations to its workers. In the end, pressure from government officials, President-elect Obama and communities across the U.S. resulted in a victory for the workers.
It's not far-fetched to imagine circumstances playing out in a similar fashion as the Republic Windows & Doors sit-in, with Hartmarx workers declining to leave the plant if someone tries to shut it. As Joe Costigan, Treasurer of the Chicago region of Workers United said, "We're not going to rule anything like that out. We are not going to tolerate job destruction."
After all, don't you think taxpayers deserve some substantial proof that TARP is being used by its recipients for more than covering their own tails and lobbying against legislation that would improve the lives of workers? This might be a nice start.
Read about Representative Phil Hare and other members of Congress who are working to save 2,000 jobs at this 100 year-old company that bears the "Made in the USA" label.
Image used under a Creative Commons license by Flickr user The Official White House Photostream.
