Rep. Slaughter Rallies with Hickey-Freeman Workers ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - Congresswoman Louise Slaughter told the workers at Hickey-Freeman Monday morning that she's "cautiously optimistic" about the company's future.

The parent company, Hartmarx, is in bankruptcy proceedings, and Monday is the deadline for interested parties to submit bids for acquiring Hickey-Freeman.

The British firm, Emerisque, has made a bid and has pledged to maintain the local Hickey-Freeman operation.

Slaughter praised the efforts of the workers at Hickey-Freeman. She says their fine work has made Avenue D as important to men's fashion as Paris and Milan.

Wells-Fargo, the chief creditor of Hickey-Freeman's parent company, initially suggested it might liquidate Hartmarx. Since Wells-Fargo received a share of federal bailout money, Slaughter argued that it should show the same consideration toward Hartmarx and Hickey-Freeman.

Emerisque bid $128 million to purchase Hartmarx. Slaughter hopes the sale of Hickey-Freeman will be finalized by Thursday.

Hickey-Freeman employs about 500 people in the Rochester area. © Copyright 2009, WXXI