CHICAGO (AP) — The nation's grim economic picture now has a face. For four days, employees at a window and door factory that went out of business have refused to leave and face the prospect of a cold winter without a job.

Instead, they've taken over the building.

It's a peaceful yet outspoken symbol of mounting anger over government bailouts of deep-pocketed corporations whose functions are murky to most, while workers who do things that are easily understood — like make doors and windows — are losing their jobs by the hundreds of thousands.

At least temporarily, news about subprime mortgages, derivatives, the Dow Jones industrial average has been pushed aside as some 200 workers take turns occupying the Republic Windows and Doors plant, which closed abruptly last week after Bank of America canceled the company's financing.

Workers say they won't leave until they get assurances they will receive severance and accrued vacation pay. Representatives of the plant were to meet later Monday with union officials and the bank.

"There's a simplicity and straightforwardness to this particular case that anybody can wrap their head around," said James Thindwa, executive director for the Chicago office of Jobs With Justice, a national coalition of unions, community groups and others.

There also is a very human story playing out one employee at a time. Apolinar Cabrera, A 17-year Republic employee, lost his job and benefits just as his wife is about to deliver their third child.

"I don't know what to do," said the 44-year-old Cabrera of Chicago, who worked in Republic's shipping department and has been shuttling between the plant and home so he can check in on his wife.

Nor does Ricardo Caceres, a 16-year-employee.

"I'm confused and angry and I'm wondering what's going on," said Caceres, a 39-year-old father of two.

The protest — along with vocal support from President-elect Barack Obama, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, civil rights activists and others — adds up to something else: a chance for unions that have been losing members and strength for years to show they still matter.

"I hope it's the beginning of a real fight-back movement," said Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, which represents the Republic workers.

Jobs With Justice organizers said it was time to seize the moment by reviving a tactic — the sit-in — that hasn't been widely used in the U.S. in decades.

"If they (Republic workers) didn't have a union they wouldn't have had a mechanism to even discuss how they fight back," said Fran Tobin, Jobs With Justice's Midwest organizer. "This is an example of what people can do; when they do organize they can fight back."

The workers say the company violated the federal WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) Act because they were not given 60 days notice that they were losing their jobs.

The company did not return calls for comment, but a labor law expert said there are circumstances when unforeseen events might cause a business to close without giving 60 days notice. But Mark Johnson, the president of Erisa Benefits Consulting in Grapevine, Texas — who stressed he was not familiar with the Republic case — said it is difficult to imagine that could be true in this case.

"What's likely to have gone on here is they were in negotiations on the financing, so ... it would seem to me they were obviously aware that something catastrophic might occur," said Johnson.

In a prepared statement, the Bank of America said it had "worked with the company and shared our concerns about the company's situation and its operations for the past several months." But the bank said it agreed that Republic should try to honor its obligation to employees.

Even so, most of the anger over the plant closure has been directed at the bank, not the company, which has not sought to evict workers from the building. Fried saying that the company can't pay its employees because the bank won't let it.

Blagojevich on Monday ordered all state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America to try to pressure the bank into using federal bailout money it received to help the laid-off workers.

"We hope that this kind of leverage and pressure will encourage Bank of America to do the right thing for this business," Blagojevich said from outside the plant. "Take some of that federal tax money that they've received and invest it by providing the necessary credit to this company so these workers can keep their jobs."

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said he wanted to ask his fellow senators to remind banks that the bailout wasn't to be used for dividends and executive salaries.

"They're for loans and credit to businesses just like Republic," he said.

On Monday, about a dozen protesters, including some former Republic workers, rallied outside a Bank of America branch on the city's West Side, handing out fliers, carrying signs and banging drums. Several tried to enter the bank to deliver their message, but were turned away.

The support generated by the sit-in has surprised some workers.

"We never expected this," said factory employee Melvin Maclin, vice president of the union local that represents the workers. "We expected to go to jail."

Bank of America officials say Republic Windows and Doors should "honor its obligations to its employees and minimize the impact of failure."

The North Carolina-based bank issued a statement Monday, four days into a worker sit-in at the Chicago plant.

Bank of America canceled the company's financing and workers were given three days notice. Hundreds are demanding vacation pay and severance.

Bank officials say they've worked with the company for months and it's unfortunate Republic hasn't been able to "reverse its declining circumstances."

The bank says it'll continue to honor agreements with the company and give the "maximum amount of funding" it can under the terms of the agreement.

But as a lender, bank officials say they're not "empowered to direct the company" on how to manage affairs.
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Associated Press writers Deanna Bellandi and Caryn Rousseau contributed to this report.

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