photo from Indianapolis Star
The announcement by Carrier of a possible deal with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-president-elect Mike Pence to keep nearly 1,000 Carrier jobs in Indiana is getting praise, but not without some reservation by some leaders and lawmakers who say they’ve been trying to work out a deal for months.
“Since February, Indianapolis has been united in working with state and federal partners to help those families affected by Carrier’s shortsighted business decision. I am hopeful that President-elect Trump’s efforts will keep many of these jobs here in Indianapolis and I trust our national leaders will continue working alongside us to assist the Carrier workers whose jobs will still leave in the coming years, as well as the families affected by the recent Rexnord announcement and the thousands more in our community who deserve full-time employment and a living wage,” said Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, in a statement.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, expressed a similar sentiment.
“This is welcome news for the Hoosier workers who will keep their jobs, and I’m eager to learn the specific details of the agreement. For many months I have been fighting alongside the Carrier workers and pushing to keep these jobs in Indiana. While this is good news, in Indiana alone, there are at least two other companies currently planning to move Hoosier jobs out of the country. We need to change our laws to encourage companies to grow here at home. I hope President-elect Trump will work with me toward this goal, so that companies will invest in the foundation of our economy: our workers and our communities,” said Donnelly.
“The entire Indiana delegation has been working for months in a bipartisan way to keep Carrier jobs in Indiana. I look forward to learning more about the details of this plan which I hope benefits thousands of Hoosier workers,” said Democrat Rep. Andre Carson.
“They have $6 billion of government contracts,” said economist Matt Will. “So, it didn’t take much for Trump to call up Carrier. He could’ve used just a few words and a few phrases and all of the sudden Carrier says we could lose part of our $6 billion, let’s just go ahead and keep the jobs here.”
Local union president Chuck Jones said that if a deal has been made it;s because of Trump’s clout with United Technologies.
“I’ve been through about eight or ten plant closures and I know by seeing it in previous times the devastation it puts on families when they lose their livelihood,” said Jones.
(story from Network Indiana)
