Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Barricaded workers are a symbol

The laid-off workers of now-defunct Republic Widows and Doors who have taken over the Chicago factory and are refusing to leave until they receive assurances of promised severance and vacation pay have put a face to the reality of hard economic times.

Kent Redfield, UIS professor emeritus of Political Science, noted in a Chicago Tribune article that, while the case is classic politics, "politicians who… have something to offer are rightly intervening.

"It becomes a metaphor for what's going on in the larger economy," Redfield said.

Download a pdf file of the article, published on December 8, 2008.
20081208-CT-WorkersareaMetaphor.pdf