Senator Baldwin Meets With Janesville Workers Facing Layoffs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin met with workers from Janesville’s Hufcor manufacturing plant who face layoffs as a result of plans by a Los Angeles private equity firm, OpenGate Capital, to shut down the plant and outsource the Wisconsin jobs to Mexico. 

OpenGate Capital has a history of predatory practices. In 2013, they shut down the Golden Guernsey plant in Waukesha and did so in such an abrupt manner that they failed to properly notify workers about layoffs, locked them out of the plant, and didn’t compensate them for accrued wages and vacation.

After the meeting with Janesville workers and Union representatives, Senator Baldwin released the following statement. 

“I met with Janesville workers who face layoffs and I have no doubt that this Los Angeles private equity firm that is reportedly planning to outsource jobs to Mexico either doesn’t understand the pain they will cause working families in Wisconsin or simply doesn’t care because all they see is profits. OpenGate Capital is an out of state, predatory private equity firm that has a history of shutting down businesses in Wisconsin and laying off workers, and now they are doing the same thing again to a manufacturer that has been in Janesville for over 120 years. I will do everything in my power to help these workers, but it’s clear to me we need to do more to fundamentally reform the private equity industry and take legislative action in Congress to rip up the predatory playbook that they are using to leave workers with nothing but pink slips and lost livelihoods. I invite Senator Johnson and Congressman Steil to join me in this effort to stop these predatory private equity firms from coming into our state and eliminating workers' jobs.”