Inside Bain's Chinese Sensata Factories

Where Workers Put in 12-Hour Days for $.99-$1.35 an Hour
Bain didn't build that new factory -- the Chinese Government Did
October 20, 2012 |



Mitt romney has made Obama's out-of-context “you didn't build that” quote a central theme of his campaign. It's ironic, as Mitt Romney is going to profit just before the election when Bain-owned Sensata Technologies moves 170 high-tech jobs from Freeport, Illinois, to a plant in China built for the firm by the Chinese government.

Sensata enjoyed record revenues last year – this isn't about making the “hard choices” necessary to save a failing enterprise. The workers in Freeport have been working 24 hours a day, in three shifts. They make $14-17 per hour, with benefits.

According to a report by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, one of Bain's first actions after buying Sensata was to set up “12 Sensata/Bain capital funds 'organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands' so as to avoid paying taxes.” They'll get a small tax break for relocating the plant – the one Mitt Romney insisted did not exist during the first debate – and then use those offshore funds to defer taxes on some of the income the company generates.

MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/inside-bains-chinese-sensata-factories-where-workers-put-12-hour-days-99-cents-135


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