On this day in Labor History the year was 2001.
That was the day that the energy trading giant Enron filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
It was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history up to that time.
At its peak, the Houston based Enron was the seventh largest company in the country.
A combination of mismanagement and all-out greed sank Enron.
The company used numerous accounting tricks and loopholes to hide billions of dollars of debt from its shareholders.
In August of 2000 shares in the company were worth $90.75.
By November 30, 2001, they had plummeted to just 26 cents.
After filing bankruptcy thousands of Enron employees were left to go down with the ship.
Many employees and retirees held thousands of dollars’ worth of Enron stock.
Employees were told the company would recover.
They were encouraged not to sell off their stock, and even to buy more.
At the same time top executives were dumping their stock holdings.
When the company went under, the employees’ retirement accounts were wiped out.
Some who had already retired had to reenter the workforce.
The following January, a New York Timesreport shared the stories of some of the 4,000 employees laid off in the immediate aftermath of the bankruptcy.
One was told he lost his job by voicemail.
Another was told he had 30 minutes to clear out his desk.
Multiple law suits won a portion of the money back for Enron stockholders.
But employees lost more than $2 billion in retirement funds.
More than twenty top executives were found guilty for the crimes they committed while running the company.
Enron became synonymous with the corporate greed that has been the hallmark of twenty-first century America.
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
November 25 - Chicago Printers Walk Off the Job
November 24 - The Hollywood Ten
November 23 - The Thibodaux Massacre
November 22 - Uprising of the 20,000
November 21 - Autoworkers Join the Postwar Strike Wave
November 20 - Birth of the Time Clock
November 19 - Joe Hill’s Final Words
November 18 - Accident or Murder?
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