Trump tours Carrier plant, announces agreement to save jobs
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- Published: Monday, 05 December 2016 15:27
Donnelly, Holcomb also issue statements
NDIANAPOLIS — After running a campaign focused on keeping jobs in the United States, President-elect Donald Trump toured the Carrier Corp. facility in Indianapolis Thursday where he helped save at least 1,000 jobs and promised more business deals to come.
In February Carrier announced that it would move manufacturing operations from two Indiana plants to Mexico. The move would have cost around 2,100 Hoosiers their jobs, with nearly 1,400 of those jobs eliminated from the facility on the west side of Indianapolis.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Carrier workers at east side facility. Trump said he worked with Carrier’s parent company to keep more than 1,000 jobs in Indiana. Photo by Rachel Hoffmeyer, TheStatehouseFile.com
But on Thanksgiving Day, Trump tweeted that he and Carrier were working to keep the jobs in the United States. Wednesday, Carrier announced it would keep furnace production in Indianapolis and save more than 1,000 employees’ jobs.
“I remember when Donald Trump was running for president he said that if he was elected president of the United States, America would start winning again,” Pence said. “Today America won, and we have Donald Trump to thank.”
Trump spoke on the importance of keeping manufacturing and companies in the United States. Trump said during a phone call with Greg Hayes, the CEO of Carrier’s parent company United Technologies Corp., Trump insisted jobs could not continue to leave the country.
“These companies are not going to be leaving anymore,” Trump said. “They’re not going to be taking people’s hearts out. They’re not going to be announcing, like they did at Carrier, that they’re closing up and moving to Mexico.”
United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes and Vice President-elect Mike Pence shake hands. The company plans to keep more than 1,000 jobs in Indiana instead of moving them to Mexico. Photo by Rachel Hoffmeyer, TheStatehouseFile.com
Trump never shared the full details of the deal during his speech at Carrier Thursday. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation did confirm it has offered Carrier up to $7 million in incentives over the next 10 years. This number is based off the company’s intention to retain 1,069 Hoosier jobs that will have an average wage of $30.91. The terms still need to be approved by the IEDC Board of Directors and the Indiana State Budget Committee.
To keep other companies and workers in the United States, Trump discussed a plan to lower business taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent while also getting rid of unnecessary regulations.
“My dad started 44 years ago. He still works here,” said Dawn Kinnard, who has worked at Carrier for 21 years. “In my heart I never really thought I could retire from Carrier, but as I grew older and kids and things, I just really wanted to get my kids ready and my dad to retire. Now that’s gonna happen.”
Article writer Abrahm Hurt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Donnelly to Trump: Carrier is good start, but we must change federal policies to prevent offshoring of jobs
Senator sends letter to president-elect in advance of Indianapolis visit; cites other offshoring job losses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In advance of President-elect Donald Trump’s visit to Carrier in Indiana on Thursday, and on the heels of last night’s news that hundreds of Carrier jobs will be protected, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly sent a letter to Trump encouraging him to prioritize changes to federal policies in order to prevent the further offshoring of American jobs.
Donnelly said, in part, in the letter, “While this is welcome news, particularly to the families who will keep their jobs, there are hundreds of additional workers at the Carrier facility and 700 workers at the UTEC facility in Huntington, all of whom will still lose their jobs. There are also a number of other Hoosier companies planning to move jobs offshore, including CTS Corporation in Elkhart and Rexnord Corporation, a company located just one mile from the Carrier facility in Indianapolis you will visit tomorrow ... I hope we can build on the momentum created by your agreement with United Technologies to make changes in order to benefit working Americans across the country.
“However, until we update our federal policies to better prevent offshoring, I strongly encourage you to make it clear that efforts to ship jobs offshore to chase cheap wages will be addressed head on by the Trump Administration. I stand ready to assist in any way possible.”
For months, Donnelly has fought alongside the Carrier workers and pushed to keep these jobs in Indiana. He also released a white paper and sent proposals to the Senate Finance Committee in May aimed at preventing and discouraging major corporations from shipping jobs to foreign countries. The Senator asked that the following policy recommendations be included in any tax reform effort, including: denying expensing for offshoring moving costs; considering offshoring as a factor in federal contracting,; clawing back and restricting tax incentives; and providing incentives to invest in rural and low-income communities.
Full text of Donnelly’s letter:
November 30, 2016
President-elect Donald J. Trump
Trump Tower
725 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Dear President-elect Trump:
I was pleased to learn of the agreement you reached with United Technologies to keep hundreds of Carrier jobs in Indianapolis. I am eager to learn the specific details of the agreement.
While this is welcome news, particularly to the families who will keep their jobs, there are hundreds of additional workers at the Carrier facility and 700 workers at the UTEC facility in Huntington, all of whom will still lose their jobs. There are also a number of other Hoosier companies planning to move jobs offshore, including CTS Corporation in Elkhart and Rexnord Corporation, a company located just one mile from the Carrier facility in Indianapolis you will visit tomorrow. There are more than 500 jobs at risk between those two companies.
I have been fighting alongside these workers for years, arguing that we have an obligation to ensure that federal policies are designed to benefit the U.S. economy, and that we encourage investment in the foundation of our economy—American workers, their families, and our communities. To that end, I have also proposed a series of recommendations that would deny and claw back certain tax benefits to companies that move jobs offshore, and ensure offshoring is a factor when awarding federal contracts. I hope we can build on the momentum created by your agreement with United Technologies to make these changes in order to benefit working Americans across the country.
However, until we update our federal policies to better prevent offshoring, I strongly encourage you to make it clear that efforts to ship jobs offshore to chase cheap wages will be addressed head on by the Trump Administration. I stand ready to assist in any way possible.
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of Hoosier workers. I look forward to continuing this fight in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Joe Donnelly
United States Senator
Governor-elect Holcomb statement on deal keeping Carrier jobs in Indianapolis
"We are thrilled that President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence reached a deal with United Technologies to keep Carrier's over 1,000 Hoosier jobs here in Indianapolis. The holiday season is off to a great start. Our team will be laser-focused on showing entrepreneurs and job creators that there is no better place to do business than Indiana and we will have a great partner in Washington DC as we continu e to grow our Hoosier workforce."
