Union Revises Down Number Of Carrier Jobs Spared In Trump Deal

Fewer jobs will be saved at Indianapolis’ Carrier factory than originally announced.

The United Steelworkers union told members in a letter Monday that the number of jobs saved is actually 800, not more than 1,100 as President-elect Donald Trump said last week.

Steelworkers Local 1999 vice president Robert James says it means 500 union members will still lose their jobs.

“It’s just something that the company decided, that these are the numbers they’re going to run with,” he says. “And hopefully by the time all this takes place, between August of ’17 and January of 2018, that some things could have changed that will allow these members to keep their jobs.”

James says the affected members include anyone hired after February of 2005. He also notes that there’s no deal so far for 700 workers slated for layoffs at Carrier’s Huntington factory.

And there’s no word on the fate of workers at Rexnord, which is also planning a move to Mexico. Trump criticized the company for the job cut in a weekend tweet, but a Rexnord worker said this morning that they hadn’t heard anything further about a change of plans.

As for the Indianapolis Carrier workers, the jobs saved include 730 production workers and 70 management positions.

There were 200 more jobs which were never supposed to leave and were not impacted by the deal. Still, it brings the total number of workers who will still be in Indianapolis going forward to 1,000.

Carrier, which makes heating and air conditioning equipment, will get $7 million in state tax breaks and have to invest $16 million in its Indianapolis factory in exchange for reversing some of the layoffs.