Carrier union leader: Fight about jobs, not Trump

Carrier union president Chuck Jones said Friday his spat this week with President-elect Donald Trump is not as important as saving jobs of workers at the three Indiana plants he represents.

Well-paying jobs are being "ripped away" from workers because of corporate greed and unfair trade, Jones told reporters gathered for a news conference at the United Steel Workers Local 1999 headquarters in Indianapolis.

"They don't give a rat's a-- about what they are doing to the people or the community," Jones said. "It's all about how much money they can make."

In addition to Carrier, where Trump helped stem the flow of jobs to Mexico, Jones and the United Steel Workers represent workers at United Technologies in Huntington and the Rexnord plant in Indianapolis. Both plants are slated to close and have their work done in Mexico.

Jones told news outlets that Trump inflated the number of jobs that were saved in a recent deal in which Carrier agreed to keep some jobs in Indianapolis that were to be moved to Mexico.

As part of the deal, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Carrier up to $5 million in conditional tax credits, plus up to $1 million in training grants to support workforce development and another $1 million in tax credits if the company continues to invest in the Indianapolis location.

Jones said he took issue with Trump trying to take credit for saving 1,100 union jobs at Carrier, while the number of jobs retained was closer to 730. Altogether, about 600 layoffs are expected in mid-2017.

After layoffs, Carrier's Indianapolis plant will have about 800 manufacturing workers and 300 engineering employees.

Trump fired off a tweet Wednesday that said Jones "has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!"

Later, Trump tweeted again: "If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working, less time talking. Reduce dues."

Trump, Jones said, "got upset because his numbers weren't adding up."

Jones stressed several times that he is focused on saving jobs and that the disagreement with Trump doesn't matter.

Jones made light of the Twitter beef, opening the news conference with a joke.

"I was not offered a job as secretary of labor," he said. "That's off the table."

The union office received more than 1,000 phone calls Thursday, Jones said. While many supported the union, Jones said, some callers made threats.

Jones said Trump deserves credit for brokering the deal with Carrier executives, but there's more work to do.

Jones noted that Trump promised to keep and grow jobs in America. The union is fighting for the same thing, Jones said.

We can work together, he said.

"If Trump is sincere about keeping jobs in this country," Jones said, "we'll sit down with him."

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @vicryc.

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