Suitmaker's employees take plea to president

A large poster bearing the signatures of more than 500 workers at Hart Schaffner & Marx's manufacturing plant in Des Plaines is making its way to President Barack Obama.

Its message: "Our jobs are worth saving, Mr. President. Thank you for wearing our Hart Schaffner & Marx suits."

The Chicago-based maker of high-end men's suits, including President Obama's inauguration tuxedo, is currently undergoing a reorganization after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.

The 122-year-old company, which operates manufacturing plants in Des Plaines and Rock Island as well as a warehouse in Indiana, could be shuttered, making roughly 1,000 people jobless in both states. The company has facilities employing roughly 3,500 people nationwide.

Hartmarx Corp., as it is known, has $483 million in assets and debt totaling $261 million as of Oct. 9. The company's primary lender, Wells Fargo, has been pushing for a liquidation, as have other lenders.

Workers at the Des Plaines plant want the banks to give three bidders an opportunity to buy the company and keep it intact.

"If they will give us a chance, I think we could survive," said Joe Scalise, 65, a suit cutter at Hartmarx's Des Plaines plant who has been with the company 43 years. "We need this job. We've got people with families, a lot of kids. If the economy picks up a bit, I'm sure it's going to come back."

The company's annual revenue of $500 million has declined since 2006 due to lower demand. But workers' advocates say it is an American brand that still produces high-quality tailored suits. The Des Plaines plant makes roughly 3,000 suits per week.

Though its workers and materials come from all over the world, Hartmarx's apparel is produced for domestic consumption, union officials said.

"This is an iconic company," said Joe Costigan, treasurer of Workers United in Chicago and the Midwest region. The union represents more than 500 Hartmarx workers in Des Plaines and 1,000 workers overall in the Midwest. "They have been through every major economic downturn, including the Great Depression, and they've survived. We're hoping that the banks will take a long-term view of the value of what happens with this company."

Union officials and area legislators have criticized Wells Fargo for accepting $25 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, federal government-backed bailout money, and not letting it trickle down to struggling businesses.

"We think they do have an obligation," said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, 64, an Evanston Democrat representing the 9th Congressional District, which includes portions of Des Plaines and Rosemont. "The purpose of the TARP money was to bolster these huge financial institutions like Wells Fargo so that they could afford to do the right thing. That's a lot of taxpayer dollars that are going into that company."

Officials with Wells Fargo and Hartmarx declined to comment Tuesday.

Schakowsky said her conversation with Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf was not encouraging. She added, company officials said they are dealing with similar issues with a number of businesses throughout the country, not just Hartmarx.

"They said we have an obligation to stockholders," Schakowsky said. "In a way, the American people and the very people who work at the company are stockholders, too. Preserving these jobs ought to be a priority."

According to Workers United officials, two of the three bidders vying to purchase Hartmarx would keep the business intact, but Wells Fargo is holding out for more money as the current bids are too low.

"There's a lot of people who are very concerned and want Wells Fargo to do the right thing," Schakowsky said. "What they are hoping for is that Wells Fargo would take into consideration the overall 3,500 jobs that would be lost, 1,000 in Illinois and 600 in my district."

For Schakowsky, helping Hartmarx survive also has personal significance. Her great aunt, Sylvia Lazar, worked for Hart Schaffner & Marx in Chicago soon after arriving in this country from Russia in the early 1900s.

"There's a lot of history there," Schakowsky said.