Greetings from Bainport, Illinois

Scott Prouty mentions Bainport at 9:10 in the video on The Ed Show last night! Thanks Scott!

New Year…New Goals

Jackson will discuss a plan with workers so they can get severance pay for a year instead of six months.

JOANNE PENNISTON
‘I’m thankful for … the new
family I’ve made in Bainport’
Joanne Penniston, 35, of Freeport lost her job of six years this month when Sensata Technologies outsourced 170 jobs to China. She has two children, 12 and 17, and doesn’t know where she’ll find work.

She was interviewed at Bainport, the tent city that protesters set up across the street from the company. “Despite losing my job, what am I thankful for? I’m thankful for my children, friends, family, and new family I’ve made in Bainport. There’s a whole country of family out there, providing solidarity, money and pizza. It restores your faith in America.”

Spoiler Alert: Mayor George Gaulrapp is a coward!

Take from the poor and give to the rich. Much like what Bain Capital is doing at Sensata Freeport, shutting down a profitable auto parts plant and shipping all the machinery and jobs to China just to extract a bit more profit from their investment.

“Politicians who turned their back on workers, like Bobby Schilling and Mitt Romney, were rejected by voters,” said Tom Gaulrapp, who has worked at the plant for 33 years. “Our elected leaders need to stand up for good jobs, not job-killing budget cuts.”

Workers, who began the encampment Sept. 12, have said that although Bainport is being removed from Stephenson County Fairgrounds, protests of the company’s outsourcing of their jobs and slashing of their severance pay will continue.

We somehow missed this nice piece.

Borman, a grandmother who always assumed she’d retire from the plant, worries about her future. She wonders if she’ll find a new job even if she uses federal aid to return to school.  For now, she’s focused on the protest. “This is an issue,” she says, “that all Americans have to be concerned about.”

“We proved that if people stand together and work together, we can raise awareness,” said Tom Gaulrapp