Contact: Connie Mabin, 724-601-5282
Freeport, IL – United Steelworkers (USW) International Vice President Fred Redmond, District 7 Director Jim Robinson, Local 745L President Dale Sandell and rank-and-file members from around the region on Friday will gather in Freeport, Illinois, to show solidarity with Sensata Technologies workers whose jobs are moving to China because of Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital.
The Steelworkers will remain in Freeport for MSNBC’s The Ed Show with Ed Schultz, which is airing live from the city.
Sensata workers have been protesting for more than a month at “Bainport,” an encampment across the street from the plant where some 170 Americans will lose their jobs to China. (Watch their story: www.youtube.com/steelworkers)
“We are so proud of the Sensata workers for standing up to the corporate bullies from Mitt Romney’s Bain, a true pioneer of outsourcing. The courageous folks from Freeport are fighting for their families, for their community, and for the nation, and we are proud to stand with them,” said Leo W. Gerard, USW International President.
“Unfortunately, USW members and their families know exactly what the workers at Sensata are going through. They have experienced the pain of having Bain Capital buy and close their plants and eliminate good, family- and community-supporting jobs so that the company founded by Mitt Romney could make more profit,” said Redmond.
“The Sensata workers are not a part of our union, or any other union. But this is a fight for all Americans and that is why we are showing solidarity with our sisters and brothers from Freeport,” said Robinson, who represents workers in Illinois and Indiana. “What’s happening right now in Illinois symbolizes what kind of economy Mitt Romney really believes in – one where ordinary, hardworking families are destroyed for no reason other than greed.”
Sandell said, “Romney says he will be tough on China and create jobs, yet as we speak, my community is suffering because his company is shipping good, American jobs to China. They even forced our friends and neighbors at Sensata to train the Chinese workers who are taking their jobs, and made them take down the American flag at the plant. That’s just wrong.”
WHO: USW leaders, members, Sensata workers, others
WHAT: Showing solidarity at “Bainport,” Sensata workers’ camp/Ed Show live taping
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. central, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012
WHERE: 2250 S. Walnut Rd., Freeport, IL 61032
This release is paid for by the United Steelworkers Political Action Fund, Five Gateway Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean. It represents workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, atomic energy and the service sector. For more info: www.usw.org.
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