Freeport workers at the Bain Capital-owned Sensata Technologies rallied today as part of a national movement calling on politicians to focus on job creation, not cuts to social services and education. The workers say the outcome of the election, which saw Democrat Cheri Bustos beat incumbent, Tea Party-backed Republican Bobby Schilling in the 17th congressional district where the Sensata factory lies, shows that voters are ready to see their elected officials work for them, not against them.
For months, the Sensata workers called on U.S. Rep. Schilling and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to address the issue of the 170 U.S. jobs being outsourced to China. But their calls fell on deaf ears, with neither Schilling nor Romney ever taking the time to meet with the workers or address the issue.
“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.”
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As lawmakers race against time to work out a deal on the
federal budget before the dreaded “fiscal cliff” goes into effect,
protesters on Thursday called on U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin to reject any
plan that results in spending cuts to the country’s social safety net.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says the fiscal cliff can be avoided if lawmakers make the right choices and outlined a progressive plan for them to do just that. The Senate's number 2 Democrat says taxes are the first issue that needs to be addressed followed by reforming entitlements; the latter of which Republicans are adamant about tying to any deal that addresses the fiscal cliff.
Concerns over the fate of the nation’s social safety net were
expressed this week in an elaborate demonstration held by a group of
area clergy members outside of the downtown Chicago office of U.S. Sen.
Richard Durbin.