Illinois Lawmakers to Lobby White House to Save Hartmarx
Unhappy with the progress of the Hartmarx bankruptcy, two Illinois lawmakers are gathering signatures to send to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to ask him to intervene in the case. The lawmakers want the White House to stop Wells Fargo from liquidating the mens' suit company until a new buyer can be found who will keep the manufacturing plant open.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.) said Thursday she and Rep. Phil Hare (D., Ill.), who for 13 years worked in a Hart Shaffner Marx factory in the district he now represents, are gathering signatures for the letter they plan to send to Geithner next week.
They want to enlist Geithner "in getting Wells Fargo to do the right thing and keep Hartmarx open, save 4,000 jobs and send a clear signal to other banks to do the right thing when they face similar situations," Schakowsky said. "The whole idea of taxpayer help for the banks was to make sure we were not losing these good jobs, these good union jobs."
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Wells Fargo has said it is committed to finance the operations of Hartmarx even though the firm has been unable to pay $114 million owed to the bank group. "Despite extensive marketing, Hartmarx has no credible offers to be acquired, but the bank group continues to work with Hartmarx to find potential buyers," Wells Fargo said this week.
However, Schakowsky and union leaders said there are two viable bidders who deserve the opportunity to purchase Hartmarx. Lawmakers are also angered that Wells Fargo is said to be considering the withdrawal of financing after the bank received $25 billion in federal funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program.
The White House has refused comment on the issue and Schakowsky says that so far she doesn't think anyone has approached President Obama directly to save his former suitmaker. It seems highly unlikely that the White House will get involved in an individual bankruptcy case.
