Life isn't Fair. Get used to it.

If these people are “making history” we’re doomed.

The theme of this post is, “Life isn’t fair.”

So, I’m reading about the sit-down strike the Republic Window in Chicago. Actually, I’ve been reading about it for a couple of days. This thing is getting far more attention than it deserves and some of the comments coming out of people are quite troubling.

Of course the most entertaining and least sane comments came from the mouth of perpetual windbag Jessie Jackson.

"These workers must be congratulated for having the courage in the great tradition of Dr. King ... and in the tradition of Cesar Chavez, in the tradition of Rosa Parks.” Your sitting down, in many ways, allows America to stand up. Workers all around the nation who are now facing massive layoffs. It's your job, it's your plant. Stay there and fight for it until justice comes and justice will come."

More concerning to me are the comments of President-Elect Obama who make some scary implications with his assessment of the situation.

"Number one, I think that these workers, if they have earned these benefits and their pay, then these companies need to follow through on those commitments," Obama said during an appearance. "And number two, I think it is important for us to make sure that moving forward, any economic plan that we put in place helps businesses to meet payroll so that we're not seeing these kinds of circumstances again."

Not all of the President-Elect’s comments have been as scary.

"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy,"

First of all, we should look at what we do know. Republic Window decided to close. Most stories imply that the decision to close was reached after Bank of America closed its line of credit. It told its employees that they would be out of work at the end of the week. Told they would not get proper notice, severance pay, and pay for unused vacation the employees are conducting a sit-in at the plant and demanding the compensation they were promised in their union contract.

That’s pretty much it for the facts.

Based on these facts we have Jessie Jackson showing up and claiming that a great injustice is taking place. He’s comparing these factory workers to Dr. King, Rosa Parks, and Hugo Chavez? Every article I read has a quote from people discussing how they are making history? You’ve got to be kidding me.

First of all, the company is closing. It’s laying off everyone. The implication is that the company is broke. If the company is insolvent then you can’t expect a bank to keep loaning them money. Banks are supposed to loan money to people who have a plan to pay it back. They aren’t just supposed to loan money to people who need it. As I recall, loaning money to people who didn’t have a very good plan to pay it back is one of the things that got us into this mess. Anyone remember the sub-prime loan disaster?

Bank of America shouldn’t loan any more money to a company that can’t pay it back.

Jackson implies in his statements that the bank should loan money to the company to pay its employees even though the company is closing and will not make the money to pay the loan off. This is my justification for calling him insane.

To my fellow Americans who are sitting-in: It’s not your job. Your job has been lost. It’s not your factory. You’d be making better use of your time if you were out looking for a new job.

Now, while I’ve been concerned with the president-elects constant proclamations that the economy is doomed and won’t get better soon, he is not completely off his rocker. The employees have a contract that entitles them to a certain amount of notice before being laid off, severance pay, and compensation for unused vacation days.

However, both the president-elect and Jackson seem to be implying that it’s the bank’s and/or the government’s responsibility to be sure the employees get their money. How can the bank or government be responsible for meeting obligations the company agreed to?

Now, what should really happen?

If the company’s owners want to close then that is their option. No one should make the government or banks pay the money the company owes its employees. However, there is no way that the company should be able to close with any profits on the books until its employees are paid what they are owed. Any cash the company has, any assets it has (including equipment and real estate) need to be liquidated and the funds need to go to the employees first. The money owed to the employees are debts and all debts must be satisfied if possible. If the money runs out then the employees may only get a percentage of what they are owed. The owners shouldn’t walk away with a penny unless all of their debt is paid.

Now, if Obama or Jackson would state the argument this way, I wouldn’t have a problem. Instead they seem to imply that life is fair and everyone gets what they’ve earned. What planet have they been living on?

Bank of America is smart for not loaning money to a failing company. I suspect though that the company was hoping to close its doors and skip out on its obligations to the employees. That is the real issue here. That is dishonorable and the company should not be allowed to do so.

We can hold the company accountable as much as possible but lets not make the implication that the government should step in and keep it open or supply wages to people who lose their jobs.

And please, don’t compare what these employees are doing to what Dr. King did. It’s not even close.