Three Picketers Arrested Outside of Sensata Plant

FREEPORT-Three protestors picketing in front of Freeport's Sensata plant were arrested Monday after blocking a truck attempting to leave the company's parking lot.  One was a teenager, 16-year-old Karri Peniston, whose mother works in the plant.  She knows first-hand what the outsourcing of jobs at the plant to China will mean to her family.  "It's going to be hard not having that extra money from when she works. It's going to make a dent in our home life," she says

Tom Gaulrapp was out with the protestors showing his support.  After being with Sensata for 33 years, his position will be cut November 5th along with more than 170 other workers.  He's bracing for hard times ahead.  "My future probably is going to be declaring bankruptcy and I'm just hoping I can keep up enough money to make my mortgage payments."

All three protestors arrested were cited and released.  They were greeted with cheers as they left the jail.  For Peniston, being arrested was a statement she felt she had to do for her family.  "People are going to get a sense of what I'm trying to stand up for and why it's so important for me. I'm going through a lot to prove my point and I'm going to continue doing that."

Protests have been going on for months since the announcement of the closure of the Sensata plant.  Civil rights leader Julian Bond joined the picketers this weekend, and some have even gone so far as to shadow the Presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.  Sensata is owned by Bain Capital, an investment company Romney led until 1999, although he has had no role at Bain for at least a decade.