Carrier Union Says Trump’s No Friend of Theirs

October 1, 2016  
By Steven Wishnia and Neal Tepel

Indianapolis, IN – The head of the union representing workers at the soon-to-be-closed air-conditioner plant here said he’s not impressed by Donald Trump using the factory as an example of the U.S. losing jobs.

“I just wish that he would get his facts straight,” United Steelworkers Local 1999 President Chuck Jones said after Trump talked about Carrier “going to Mexico” during the Sept. 26 presidential debate. “Donald Trump’s got stock in UTEC, which owns Carrier. Donald Trump’s got a lot of businesses overseas, so I don’t put a hell of a lot of faith in what he says.” Carrier plans to move production from Indianapolis to Mexico by 2019, eliminating 1,400 jobs, and UTEC is closing another Indiana plant that has 700 employees. Local 1999, which backed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presidential nomination, has not joined the national Steelworkers in endorsing Hillary Clinton. “Hillary Clinton was for NAFTA, this whole Carrier move is NAFTA related,” said Jones. Read more