Former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias released his first ad of the 2022 campaign season today that features his fight to successfully save jobs at Illinois suit maker Hartmarx and protect worker rights at Republic Windows.
The new ad entitled “Working Together,” which was produced by Adelstein & Associates, discusses the impact of Covid crisis and the resulting hardships facing workers and middle-class families, but it also offers hope.
“When times get hard, it means we need to fight hard,” Giannoulias says in the ad. “Because the stakes are so high. We know what we need to do: Fund projects to put folks back to work; protect the right to organize; and help working families get ahead. We need to do it together, in solidarity. That’s how we win. That’s how we bring back the middle class.”
The ad also highlights Giannoulias’ efforts as Illinois State Treasurer to prevent Hartmarx from closing and laying off hundreds of workers.
Giannoulias threatened to pull the state’s $8 billion investment portfolio from Hartmarx’s main creditor, Wells Fargo, in 2009 after it planned to shut down the plant and liquidate the hundreds of jobs. Wells Fargo relented, agreeing to sell the factory to an owner willing to preserve the jobs at the Des Plaines plant.
In addition, the ad mentions Giannoulias’ role in helping to reach a settlement between Bank of America and Chicago-based Republic Windows to ensure its workers receive wages, vacation and health care after the factory shut down.
“We’re excited to release our first ad and committed to reemerge from this pandemic with a stronger economy that is focused on renewed opportunities for working families, a stronger middle class and better lives for all Illinoisians,” Giannoulias said.
