Good Sign

In Chicago, the Republic Windows and Doors company shuttered their business on Friday. They told their employees about it on Tuesday. This is illegal. A company must give 60 days notice before closing a factory, by law. In response, the workers occupied the building.

They were inside the building demanding they be paid the wages they say they are entitled to.

Negotiations were underway between the workers who have been notified that they'd be laid off, the company and the company's bank, Bank of America. This is all being done with the help of Congressman Luis Gutierrez. The location of the negotiation is undisclosed, but it is somewhere downtown. In the meantime, the workers plan to stay put in protest.

"We'll be here for as long as it takes. We're not leaving. We're going to be here as long as it takes," said Eric Ramos, laid off worker.

And with that passion and determination, about 200 laid off workers of Republic Windows and Doors have decided to take a stand at 1333 N. Hickory in Chicago. They planned to stay inside the company's building until a settlement is reached between them and the company's bank.

And they have a friend in high places:

“When it comes to the situation here in Chicago with the workers who are asking for their benefits and payments they have earned, I think they are absolutely right,” Obama said Sunday at a news conference announcing his new Veterans Affairs director. “What’s happening to them is reflective of what’s happening across this economy.

His longer response talks about relieving the credit crunch and making sure money flows to those businesses that need it.

I am trying to remember a President who publicly agreed with an act of civil disobedience. By the labor movement, no less.