UPDATED: Sensata Story Will Destroy Romney -Romney's Bain Currently Selling Out US Workers to China [View all]

[Indep2992]

Last edited Sun Oct 14, 2012, 05:05 PM - Edit history (33)

Please spread the word. This is so awful.

As covered on the ED show last night on MSNBC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=UDqCrbz4OvU

Citations:
-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/is-this-why-romney-wont-t_b_1956151.html
-http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/us/politics/as-romney-repeats-trade-message-bain-maintains-china-ties.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
-http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/13/1143996/-The-Sansata-Story-Could-Destroy-Romney

-http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/bain-never-left-romney/
The testimonial from the workers video cites the above New York Times article.

"In addition, Mr. Romney’s generous retirement agreement ensures that he continues to profit from the deals and decisions that Bain makes. He owns about $8 million worth of Bain funds that hold 51 percent of Sensata’s shares. If Sensata saves money by closing the Freeport plant, that could add money to Mr. Romney’s trust accounts, now or after the election."

We need to spread the word - this is too scary and important to let the MSM slide on not covering this.
Everyone please do your part to get this story out!
Twitter, FB, Reddit, Emails, Google+
Call and email your local TV news stations and email CNN, MSNBC, FOX, NBC, ABC. This story needs to go viral.

I'm a newbie, so IDK if this is the best place to put this thread. But we honestly shouldn't let this thread and story die. If Americans hear about this, I don't see how Romney will hold the perceived employment advantage that low info voters claim him to have. This story can bring Romney down and to justice.


UPDATE #2:
Romney Campaign calls police on workers being outsourced by Bain-owned Sensata

UPDATE #3:
Sensata Worker Outsourced by Bain Speaks Out

UPDATE #4:
The workers from the plant have a website:
http://bainport.com/

UPDATE #5:
PDF of the report that shows wage calculations for those in China and pictures of the factory in China.
Download and save and send people, this is crazy stuff.
http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/1210-Bain-Capital-Pitting-American-Workers-Against-Workers-in-China-Earning-Just-99-Cents-an-Hour.pdf

UPDATE #8:
Give Us A Break (another video about the workers)

UPDATE #6:
Apparently this Sensata plant story by the NYT (see above) was on the COVER yet it did not make TV news.
[URL=http://imgur.com/2DTIQ][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

UPDATE #7:
SO IRONIC HAHA
In Ohio today, Romney hammered Obama on Inaction on China Trade --- in the meantime, this Sensata story blew up on social media...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/romney-obama-china_n_1963944.html

UPDATE #9:
Tax break off firm sending Sensata jobs to China
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/mitt-romney-sensata-tax-break_n_1920396.html

UPDATE #10:
Was Sensata technologies in trouble? No, it was doing great. But they wanted more money.

http://www.globallabourrights.org/admin/reports/files/1210-Bain-Capital-Pitting-American-Workers-Against-Workers-in-China-Earning-Just-99-Cents-an-Hour.pdf

Bain Capital was founded by Mitt Romney in 1984 as a global private investment firm. Sensata Technologies, a Bain affiliate, was formed in April 2006 when the company purchased Texas Instruments’ sensors and controls division for $770 million. Just four years later, by 2010, Bain’s original investment had quadrupled to $3.2 billion, we believe largely due to outsourcing.

In 2011, when Bain and Sensata executives informed the Freeport workers, somewhat cavalierly, that they would be terminated in November 2012 and went on to explain that they were temporarily leasing the factory but were purchasing the machinery and the workers’ skills to train Chinese engineers before the work was shipped to China.

In fact, Mr. Jacob Sayer — a Sensata spokesperson, said they were closing the Freeport plant in order to cut costs. Mr. Sayer went on: “If that had not been part of the strategy, then the deal would not have been so attractive.” When questioned by Paul Harris of The Guardian (August 10, 2012), the same spokesperson refused to comment, saying “We don’t have a statement on the impact it has on Freeport.”

Bain and Sensata executives did not have a lot of time to talk about the 170 workers being terminated at the Freeport plant. The executives have had more pressing issues, such as setting up 12 Sensata/Bain capital funds “organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands” so as to avoid paying taxes.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/18/why-romney-cant-save-the-sensata-workers/

From the outset, Sensata said that it planned to move the jobs overseas at year-end 2012, since the majority of its auto-sensor business is in Asia. In fact, Sensdata didn't even buy the manufacturing facility from Honeywell. It leased it, with Honeywell expected to hang a for-sale sign when Sensata moves out in a few months.

To be sure, this is a horrible situation for the Sensata employees – the vast majority of whom have not yet found other employment (Honeywell hired just a small number of folks to work in its other Freeport facilities). After all, Sensata has never suggested that the plant was unprofitable. It simply thinks the effort would be more profitable elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the workers are barking up the wrong tree with Romney.

Remember, this is the guy whose campaign got into a well-publicized scuffle over whether he really stopped making decisions for Bain Capital in 1999 or 2002 (for the record, it was 1999). How could he possibly open himself up to legitimate charges of influencing Bain's behavior in 2012? Even if one argues it's the right thing to do for the workers, it's not the politically feasible thing to do (and, if anything, Romney tries to be a pragmatist in such matters).

Moreover, there is little guarantee that a Romney plea would even save the jobs. Yes, he has friends and former colleagues on the Sensata board, including chairman Paul Edgerley. But they have fiduciary responsibilities to their own investors, and Sensata has made it clear that the best financial move is to shutter Freeport.

UPDATE #11:
Workers upset with Romneys profit ‘harvest’ comments in 1985 video

http://rockrivertimes.com/2012/10/03/sensata-workers-attack-romney%E2%80%99s-profit-%E2%80%98harvest%E2%80%99-comments/

UPDATE #12:
Schilling Walks Out, Can't Take The Heat Of The Sensata Debate At Recent Town Hall Meeting (VIDEO)

http://progressillinois.com/quick-hits/content/2012/09/19/schilling-walks-out-cant-take-heat-sensata-debate-recent-town-hall-mee

UPDATE #13:
New from DailyKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/13/1144087/-More-on-Bain-Moving-Sensata-to-China

Mitt Romney: A "Blind trust is an age-old ruse"

UPDATE #14:
from freshwest

[URL=http://imgur.com/Askzz][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Sensata Workers Are Living Proof that Romney’s Tough Talk on China is Worthless

By: Jason EasleyOctober 13th, 2012

Mitt Romney is running around Ohio talking tough about China today, but one place he won’t go near is Freeport, IL where the Bain owned Sensata Technologies is sending 170 jobs to China.

During campaign stops in Ohio today, Romney said, “It’s time for us to stand up to China for their cheating. It’s got to stop. We’ve got to get those jobs back and make trade to be fair.”

In a statement, Obama campaign spokesman Danny Kanner responded to Romney’s tough talk, “Mitt Romney’s talking tough, but his record and his policies show he’s anything but when it comes to China. Mitt Romney called the President’s aggressive action on behalf of American tire workers ‘decidedly bad for the nation.’ As a corporate buyout specialist, he invested in companies that were pioneers in outsourcing to low-wage countries like China. And now, while President Obama would close tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping American jobs overseas, Mitt Romney’s tax plan could create 800,000 jobs outside of America. That’s not a candidate who would be tough on China as president – that’s a candidate who thinks sounding tough will win him votes...”

http://www.politicususa.com/sensata-workers-living-proof-romneys-tough-talk-china-worthless.html

Don't let up, keep on it, people's lives are at stake, not just in Freeport but all of America. This is the vision that Romney has, reducing the men and women of this nation to slave labor. And all for no good reason, just more greed.

UPDATE #14:
More videos:
Max: Outsourced Sensata Worker on Training Her Chinese Replacement

Cheryl Randecker, About to Lose Her Job to Outsourcing, Protests Romney Economy

UPDATE #15:
The Guardian covered this in August:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/aug/10/illinois-workers-bain-outsourcing

UPDATE #16:
Sensata Workers Respond to Leaked Video On Bain/Romney Business Model

UPDATE #17:
8/29/12 VERY GOOD Rolling Stone Article: "Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital
How the GOP presidential candidate and his private equity firm staged an epic wealth grab, destroyed jobs – and stuck others with the bill"
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/greed-and-debt-the-true-story-of-mitt-romney-and-bain-capital-20120829

UPDATE #18:
NEWS ARTICLE TODAY IN INQUISITR: "Sensata Technologies: Scandal Could Be Brewing For Mitt Romney"
http://www.inquisitr.com/362821/sensata-technologies-scandal-could-be-brewing-for-mitt-romney/

UPDATE #19:
And... the GOP begins its spin! (See Twitter, false articles, misleading fact quotes, etc)
Here are the facts:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144360/-As-Story-Grows-GOP-Spin-Begins-5-Facts-About-Sensata
Keep in mind that this is linked to the 47% video obviously.

We kept this thing organized for this reason - GOP spin. Facts matter. We can fight spin with facts.

UPDATE #20:
Mother Jones: Romney's Stake in Chinese Stocks
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/10/romney-china-stock-investments

UPDATE #21:
DailyKos has these updates out - READ:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144360/-As-Story-Grows-GOP-Spin-Begins-5-Facts-About-Sensata

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144475/-Jake-Tapper-Calls-Out-Romney-s-Conflict-of-Interest-in-China

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144354/-STORY-Romney-Founded-Bain-Bain-Is-Still-Bain-On-11-5-12-Bain-Is-Selling-US-Jobs-To-China

UPDATE #22:
VIDEO: Today's livestream interview of the workers at Sensata
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/26152391#utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=26152391&utm_medium=social

UPDATE #23:
Clarification on the American and Chinese flag:

There seems to be some confusion about whether or not our Sensata plant took down our American flag and replaced it with the Chinese flag. Here is the truth. Sensata took down our American flag on the day they flew in our Chinese replacements that we were forced to train. They put our American flag back up after the Chinese workers left. They never flew the Chinese flag.

http://bainport.com/post/33539176657/setting-the-record-straight-on-the-chinese-flag

UPDATE #24:
from DU user identify
Feature about the Overpass Light Brigade at Bainport
https://vimeo.com/50491093

UPDATE #15:
GOP knows about this - Spinning today from FOX News:
http://nation.foxnews.com/obama/2012/10/14/obama-owns-shares-sensata-personally-benefits-outsourcing-jobs-china

BUT...

From the NYT article:

For many sophisticated and wealthy investors, as well as for ordinary workers invested in pension funds, China is a part of any diversified investment strategy. President Obama, a former Illinois state senator, has as much as $100,000 in a state retirement plan that contains shares of Sensata Technologies, the same auto parts company controlled by Bain that is closing its Illinois factory.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/us/politics/as-romney-repeats-trade-message-bain-maintains-china-ties.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This merely means that the state of Illinois has a partly-private retirement plan for its elected officials. As part of its shared investments for all of the employees eligible under the state retirement system holds shares of Sensata. This has nothing specific to do with President Obama, other than that he once held a job which contributed to the state retirement system.

Why again this story matters:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/14/1144354/-STORY-Romney-Founded-Bain-Bain-Is-Still-Bain-On-11-5-12-Bain-Is-Selling-US-Jobs-To-China