Greetings from Bainport, Illinois

REPUBLIC WINDOWS WORKERS COMING TO “BAINPORT”

PRESS ADVISORY FOR: October 21, 2012

REPUBLIC WINDOWS WORKERS COMING TO “BAINPORT”

Worker Solidarity Grows as Sensata Workers Fight for Full Severance

Freeport, IL – Sensata workers at the Bainport encampment will be joined by workers from Republic Windows in Chicago who successfully occupied their factory four years ago and won their full severance. They have since become founding members of the worker run-cooperative New Era Windows.

The visit comes as the Sensata plant has been shut down for the weekend in the face of growing protests and national attention. MSNBC’s The Ed Show broadcasted live from the Bainport camp on Friday night in front of a crowd of hundreds.

The Sensata workers are in the midst of a battle to win a fair and full severance. Six community supporters were arrested on Wednesday during a sit-in that occurred in the entrance to the plant. The protesters demanded to meet with the plant manager to deliver petitions in support of a full pension, but the manager refused to come out and the police were called instead.

Many of the Sensata employees have worked at the plant for decades, but will only receive 26 weeks’ pay as severance for the outsourcing of their jobs to China.

WHO:  Sensata workers, concerned community members, former Republic Windows workers

WHAT:  Strategy Session and Solidarity Meeting

WHEN: SUNDAY, October 21^st 1pm

WHERE: Bainport, Freeport, IL

Sensata has emerged as a flashpoint in the controversy over Mitt Romney’s ties to China this fall, with the candidates’ alluding to Romney’s investment in Sensata in last night’s debate. Sensata workers have pleaded publicly with Romney to help save their jobs from being outsourced to China. Not only does Romney stand to profit from the outsourcing of these jobs through the stock he still owns in the company, his 2011 tax returns show that he got a huge tax break by moving Sensata stock to a charity organization he controls—and that he continues to profit from Bain’s offshore holdings and tax avoidance strategies.

The Sensata workers tried to deliver a petition to the plant manager on Wednesday as part of their effort to win a full and fair severance. Workers who have been at the plant for 20, 30 and even 40-plus years are only getting 26 weeks’ pay as a severance from Bain-owned Sensata.

For minute-to-minute updates on the situation at Sensata, visit www.bainport.com.