The contract was between the company and the union as far as I can tell was not based on a location...they only had one location and opened the Iowa plant subsequent to leaving Chicago. They did not pay their employees for the work they had performed either and did not honor their contract. This is not reactionary...fair is fair. A contract is a contract whether it’s with the Wall Street gang or a union or whatever. Contracts are broken on a regular basis- ask any lawyer. I just don’t understand the argument that somehow AIG bonuses are sacred somehow.
That's a strawman. The contention is that the retention bonuses should be honored, because these payments are memorialized in written contracts, and the beneficiaries upheld their end of the deal. BUT, if AIG had declared bankruptcy, then those deals would be settled by a receiver. I'd wager that the workers would obtain something more than $1 for whatever time they had spend working, and something less than the full amount of the written agreement stipulated. As you noted, "fair is fair," and as fair as we can manage in bankruptcy.
Your argument goes in two directions, it seems. You are offended at what you see as Republic Window breaking a contract, but you aren't offended at AIG breaking a contract.