Bain Capital, Firm Founded By Mitt Romney, Outsourcing 170 Jobs To China

Bain Capital, the private equity firm co-founded in 1984 by one Mitt Romney, is preparing to export 170 US factory jobs to China in November.

Furthermore, the NY Daily News reports that workers at the Sensata Technologies plant in Freeport, Illinois have been asked to train their Chinese replacements.

GOP presidential candidate Romney has consistently stated that he hasn’t made any management decisions at Bain since retiring as CEO in 1999. While that may be true, numerous critics point out that Romney continues to rake in a share of Bain’s profits and that the company (and Romney) has a history of exporting jobs to cheaper labor markets.

Talking to Democracy Now!, 33-year-old (now former) Sensata worker Tom Gualrapp said:

“This is a business that makes a lot of profit. The Chinese government is providing them with a plant and a cheaper work force. A dollar seems to be more important to them than any community responsibility.”

Workers have not taken the loss of their jobs lightly. A petition has been presented to Bain Capital Partners, which has owned the plant since 2006, and pleas have been made to Romney himself. To date, there has been no response from either Bain or the GOP candidate. Sensata workers have also established a “Bainport” protest camp outside their factory to get their message across.

Democrat Representative Jan Schakowsky told the NY Daily News:

“Not only is Bain taking away these workers’ incomes and livelihoods, the company is forcing them to train their replacements from China. That’s outrageous.”