The story of Republic Window and Doors started quietly last week, when Bank of America informed the company, located on Chicago's Goose Island, that it had canceled their $5 million line of credit. Then came the rumble. Republic's executives, in turn, announced that the company would be shutting down and gave its 250-plus workers 72 hours to leave their jobs. In the days since, the story has built to a roar, with employees deciding on Friday to stage an ongoing sit-in in the factory. Local officials, members of Congress, and the national news media have all taken notice and you can be sure to hear more about the situation over the course of the next week.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez has so far been playing a central role in assisting the workers. He's orchestrating a meeting tomorrow between Bank of America, Republic executives, and representatives of the employees. I've also heard that certain state officials, along with some Chicago aldermen and Cook County commissioners, are planning to roll out separate initiatives tomorrow aimed at pressuring Bank of America to reconsider their decision. Prepare to hear a lot about how the bank just sold $9 billion worth of FDIC-insured debt, thanks to the Wall Street bailout package. In short, this financial institution -- whose top seven executives made a combined $87 million last year -- is refusing to extend credit to manufacturers like Republic while at the same time putting taxpayers on the hook for their own risky investments.

We'll keep you updated on any developments. In the meantime, here's some more backstory ...

At issue is the company's obligations to its workers under the WARN Act, as Chi-Town Daily News' Megan Cottrell explains:

Republic Windows and Doors announced Tuesday that it would close today because the company could not get continued financing from the Bank of America. Company officials also said they are unable to give workers the 60 days pay and unused vacation as required under the federal WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act.

Today, U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez, D-4, pointed out that a state law complimenting the WARN ACT requires the company to give workers an additional 15 days pay, for a total of 75.

The WARN Act covers companies with 100 or more full-time employees.

By occupying the factory, as the workers have done since Friday, they're ensuring that Republic can't begin to cart off all its valuable machinery. ABC 7 reported that some workers saw the company beginning to remove equipment a couple weeks ago:

Laid off worker and father of three Armando Robles says he witnessed how, as early as two weeks ago, the company began moving equipment out in the middle of the night.

He says he's in the protest for the long haul.

"They owe me, and I need to feed my family. I will stay 'til the end," he said.

The timing of the company's announcement is also going to receive some scrutiny:

"I don't believe somebody woke up on Tuesday and simply decided to shut the doors," [Rep. Luis] Gutierrez said. [...]

Melvin Maclin, 54, who has worked at the plant for seven years, said employees had suspected the company was in dire financial straits for months but were continually reassured.

A report from the picket line:

UE Local 1110 members, along with community supporters, picketed and rallied in front of Bank of America’s main Chicago branch on Wednesday, December 3. They chanted, “You got bailed out, we got sold out!” Local 1110 President Armando Robles told the news media, “Just weeks before Christmas we are told our factory will close in three days. Taxpayers gave Bank of America billions, and they turn around and close our company. We will fight for a bailout for workers.”

The New York Times has more:

The workers, many of whom were sitting on fold-up chairs on the factory floor Saturday afternoon, said they would not leave.

“They’re staying because the fact is that these workers feel they have nothing to lose at this point,” said Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110, who said groups of 30 were occupying the plant in shifts. “Telling them they have three days before they are out on the street, penniless, is outrageous.”

The Community Media Workshop provides some historical perspective:

The sit-down comes a little more than 72 years after the first sit-down strike by Bendix workers in South Bend, Indiana, and three weeks before the 72nd anniversary of the ephochal 44-day Flint sit-down strike, which forced General Motors to recognize the United Auto Workers.

Finally, the Nation's John Nichols takes a wide-angle view:

Just as Roosevelt needed mass movements and militancy as an excuse to talk Washington stalwarts into accepting radical shifts in the economic order, so Obama will need to be able to point to some turbulence at the grassroots.

And so he may have it. [...]

Barack Obama will not be the new FDR, and this coming period will not see a "new New Deal" unless labor is inspired to fight once more to keep workers on the job, plants operating and American manufacturing industries muscular enough to survive in the global market. Then, the proper demands can be made on an Obama administration to back up not just unions but their expanding membership.

If the right history of this time is written, it will be said that the new New Deal began in Chicago -- not just because Obama comes from the city but because workers there chose to stand up by sitting down.

Stay tuned ...