Progress Illinois

The fight to keep creditor Wells Fargo from liquidating Hartmarx, Inc, appears to be coming to a head.  (Catch up on the full backstory here.)  Two days after Sen. Dick Durbin urged the bank to accept a bid on the bankrupt suitmaker from a British private equity firm, Wells Fargo released a statement this afternoon making clear that they oppose the offer in question:

The [lending] group [led by Wells Fargo] said it opposes the offer because Emerisque fails to provide adequate value to Hartmarx’s lenders – who have funded Hartmarx throughout its bankruptcy including, most recently, up to $20 million in additional advances – and also because Emerisque’s offer does not even ensure that Emerisque will continue running Hartmarx’s business operations after the acquisition.  

As our reporting over the past few weeks has shown, the 1,000 Hartmarx workers here in Illinois, along with their union representatives, stand mobilized to protect those jobs, even if it means occupying the local factories.  Yesterday, a group of employees at the company's Des Plaines plant traveled to Milwaukee to protest outside the Target Corporation Annual Meeting. Target’s Board of Directors includes Richard M. Kovacevich, chairman of Wells Fargo (who incidentally failed to show up at the meeting).  Below is a brief documentary produced for Workers United and the SEIU Illinois State Council by Heather Stone:

Today's statement from Wells Fargo is just the latest indication that they favor liquidation, which would result in the loss of nearly 4,000 jobs nationwide, including those in Illinois.  We hear that representatives of the bank will be making their case against the Emerisque bid in bankruptcy court in Chicago on Monday.  The Hartmarx workers are sure to be out in force protesting this move.  More to come ...

Full disclosure: Workers United is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.  The SEIU Illinois State Council sponsors this website. 

Image courtesy of Heather Stone.