The inevitable has finally happened for Republic Windows and Doors. The company has entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will officially wind down its business. According to reports from a Chicago CBS affiliate, Bank of America demanded that the company shut down as a condition for the extension of additional credit to pay its workers' legally required wages and benefits. Richard Gillman, the company's owner, says that he and his family will now focus on operating an Iowa business they recently purchased. Apparently, local Iowans are cautiously optimistic about Gillman's new mission.
According to the bankruptcy petition, the company has debts between $10-50 million and assets of $1-10 million. This seems to confirm my argument that Bank of America likely had very rational -- rather than sinister -- reasons for denying the company additional credit. According to the bank, the company maxed out its $5 million credit line.
Despite the company's poor finanicial status, protests and media attention probably caused Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase to pay for its obligations to its workers. Now, the company can operate its nonunion factory and avoid liability under the WARN Act. The discarded Chicago workers, however, will remain unemployed unless they find alternative work. Many of those workers hope that investors will come forward to save the company.
Good Source: USGlass News Network
Related Readings on Dissenting Justice:
* MADE IN IOWA: Did Company in Chicago Sit-In Illegally Discard Its Workers and Quietly Relocate While Liberals Forced BOA to Pay for the Shady Scheme?
* Republic Windows and Doors Received a Bailout from Chicago Before It Bailed Out of Chicago
* Laid-Off Republic Windows and Doors Workers: Pawns in Political Football
* Factory Closes in Chicago; Workers Invoke Bailout During Protest
* What (I Think) Progressives Should Have Done for Workers of Republic Windows and Doors
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