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Chuck Jones, union leader who feuded with Donald Trump, plans to retire

James Briggs
james.briggs@indystar.com
Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, speaks during a news conference at the union hall in Indianapolis, Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Jones is planning to retire in June.

In the future, if President Trump wants to lash out at an Indianapolis union leader, he'll have to find a new target.

United Steelworkers Local 1999 President Chuck Jones is retiring after spending more than a year in the spotlight, needling corporate executives and elected officials, including a surreal media feud with Trump. The gray-haired former factory worker has been a frequent presence on local and national television, using his gruff voice to call out perceived "corporate greed" at companies such as Carrier Corp. and Rexnord Corp., which are expected to lay off nearly 1,000 members of his union in the coming months.

Jones, 65, plans to step down June 1. He will be succeeded by Robert James, who has been vice president under Jones for eight years. The union will represent more than 2,000 workers across Central Indiana after pending layoffs take effect at Carrier and Rexnord.

"I haven't got anything I'm planning on doing," Jones said. "I'm going to basically take it easy for a while."

Jones wanted to retire sooner, he said, but decided to stay on a little longer after Trump and Vice President Mike Pence announced in December that they had reached a deal to keep some Carrier jobs in Indianapolis. Carrier parent company United Technologies Corp. previously announced it would eliminate 2,100 factory jobs in Indianapolis and Huntington, sending them to Monterrey, Mexico.

Trump and Pence at first said their deal with United Technologies would save 1,100 jobs at Carrier's Indianapolis plant. But Jones on Dec. 7 went on CNN and said Trump was exaggerating — or, as he put it, "lying his (expletive) off" — adding that fewer than 800 jobs were actually being saved.

Shortly after Jones' CNN interview, Trump attacked him on Twitter, turning Jones into a national personality.

"Chuck Jones, who is President of United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee country!" Trump said in one tweet.

In another post, Trump added, "If United Steelworkers 1999 was any good, they would have kept those jobs in Indiana. Spend more time working-less time talking. Reduce dues."

In Central Indiana, though, Jones' salt-of-the-earth style and passionate defense of factory workers has made him a beloved figure — even drawing praise from Pence when he was governor of Indiana. Pence in March 2016 posted a photo of himself meeting with Jones on Twitter and applauded the "hardworking men of Local 1999."

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, a Democrat who has appeared with Jones at several news conferences during the last year, said in a statement that Jones "inspired a new generation of young leaders to fight for what they believe in."

"Chuck Jones spent his career fighting for working families in Central Indiana, and I was lucky enough to fight alongside him many times over the years," Hogsett said. "His work ethic is as legendary as his sense of humor, and quite a few public officials fell victim to both."

Jones, who began working at Rexnord's west-side factory in 1969, has been a full-time union officer since 1985. Jones' retirement comes as his old plant is about to shut down, eliminating more than 350 jobs.

Jones has spent the past year fighting to stop Carrier and Rexnord from eliminating jobs in Indianapolis — and then pushing for better severance packages once it was clear that layoffs were inevitable.

"Chuck is a hell of an individual," said James, who is set to step into Jones' role this summer. "I watched him put his all into this situation with Carrier and Rexnord and he's still doing it."

Jones has frequently expressed gratitude to Trump for saving about 750 Carrier jobs, yet also criticized the president for not similarly acting on behalf of Rexnord employees who are about to lose their jobs. Jones will step aside at about the same time his former factory closes.

"I'm retiring in 71 days," Jones said Tuesday, adding, "not that I'm counting."

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.