Historic Factory “Sit In” Grows as Hart Schaffner & Marx Workers, in Second Factory this Week, Vote to “Sit In” to Save their Jobs from Liquidation by Bailout Recipient Wells Fargo…

SEIU to Launch “Keep America Working” Hotline & Website

National Campaign will Support Small Business Owners and Workers Facing Job Loss as Ailing Banks Deny Credit, Push for Company Liquidation

May 13, 2009—This Thursday, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will announce the creation of a toll-free hotline and website—Keep America Working—to support small business owners and workers facing job loss across the country.  

Big banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo received more than $410 billion in taxpayer bailout funds so they could remain solvent and start lending again to get the economy moving. Instead, they’re freezing loans and putting small businesses in danger of closing their doors and putting workers in the unemployment line.

The Keep America Working Hotline represents an opportunity for workers and small business owners to preemptively protect jobs in our communities and hold taxpayer-financed banks accountable for actions that undercut a meaningful economic recovery.  

Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Andy Stern, SEIU President

Tom Balanoff, SEIU Illinois State Council President

Ruby Simms, 32-year veteran of the Hart Schaffner & Marx factory in Des Plaines, IL

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Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, is a union representing more than 150,000 workers in the US and Canada who work in the laundry, food service, hospitality, gaming, apparel, textiles manufacturing and distribution industries. Workers United is a new union with a history of more than 100 years, and includes members from many predecessor unions, including the ILGWU, ACTWU, UNITE and UNITE HERE unions.

SEIU - With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers—not just corporations and CEOs—benefit from today's global economy