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Chicago Workers End Factory Occupation with Severance Deal

HeadlineDec 11, 2008

Workers have ended their six-day occupation of a shuttered Chicago factory after winning a settlement from their now former employers. The Republic Windows and Door factory closed last week after Bank of America cut off the company’s line of credit. The factory owners gave workers just three days’ notice of the plant’s closure. Many of the plant’s 250 union workers have been occupying the plant since Friday. Under the brokered deal, workers will each receive around two months’ worth of salary and healthcare benefits, as well as all accrued vacation pay. Most of the financing will come from Bank of America. The company relented after coming under heavy criticism for its role in blocking the employees’ pay despite receiving $25 billion in the taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout.

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