Editor's note: This is the first in a series of first-person accounts from Carrier's union representatives. They are in Washington DC, trying to get our lawmakers to listen to the problems of Carrier workers.
Hello from Washington, DC!
My name is TJ Bray and I am a 14-year employee at Carrier.
I am also the Media Communications Representative for our union, United Steel Workers Local 1999/Carrier Unit.
I was nominated by our union leadership, along with three other workers for this week, Eric Cottonham, Ray Graham and Larry Linville and three workers that went last week, Vickie Burrus, Frank Staples and Ron Terry, to go to Washington, DC and lobby on Capitol Hill about what Carrier workers are going through.
We're here to show these politicians that we are the faces of the people that work at the Indianapolis facility. We are being the voice for the 1,400 employees that are losing their jobs.
We want these lawmakers to understand the situation that we are facing concerning our future, our families, our community, and in our country.
We have been working with United Steel Workers Legislative Representative, Roy Houseman, who has been assisting us in lobbying these congressional leaders.
We are lobbying congressional representatives concerning a bill that is being sponsored by representative Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
The bill is called Bring Jobs Home Act.
This bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to:
- Grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States
- Deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States
It also would require an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.
Today we had conversations with Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA), Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici's (D-OR) Legislative Assistant Sarah Round, Congressman Ron Kind's (D-WI) Economic Policy Advisor Hana Greenberg, Congressman Mike Thompson's (D-CA) Legislative Counsel Erin Helling and a legislative assistant for Congressman John Lewis (D-GA).
We were lobbying to these congressional leaders to co-sponsor this bill that would go after these corporations' tax write offs and incentives.
We feel that these meetings were very productive and most of the Congress members seemed supportive of this bill.
The delegation that I am with for the week is a good mixture of the workers that we are representing.
Larry is No. 1 on the seniority list with 51 years of service, Eric is a military veteran, Ray has been with Carrier for 23 years and has two kids that work at the factory. I am the young guy with two small children and have had a lot of family that work(ed) there.
We felt that it was very important that these leaders heard our personal stories so that they understand that we're not just a statistic, but that we are ordinary American middle class workers.
Tomorrow, we will be lobbying more congressional representatives about this bill and to gain more support for our cause. We are very honored to be getting this opportunity to come to Washington and to speak with our leaders.
TJ Bray
Media Communications Rep.
USW Local 1999/Carrier Unit
FULL CARRIER COVERAGE: TIMELINE: Carrier to ship 1,400 jobs from Indiana to Mexico | Hogsett calls on Carrier to return $1.2M within 30 days | Coats, Donnelly have 'disappointing' meeting with Carrier execs | IEDC responds to Sen. Donnelly's comments on Carrier | Sen. Donnelly: Carrier never cited federal regulations as reason for move | Union president: 'We're not going away quietly' | Carrier employees protest move at statehouse| Pence on Carrier meeting: 'I don't want to create any false hope for people' | Moving to Mexico: What you need to know about Monterrey, Mexico | Moving to Mexico: On the ground in Monterrey, Mexico, where Carrier is moving Trump weights in on Carrier relocation to Mexico | Carrier: Company did not receive $5M in federal stimulus funds | President of United Steelworkers Union: No hope of saving 1,400 jobs | Carrier employees, local businesses reel after announcement of move to Mexico | WATCH: Employees react to news that Carrier is moving from Indy to Mexico | Pence to review Carrier's plans to move to Mexico | TRUMP: Carrier should be taxed for their goods after move to Mexico | Hogsett, Donnelly meet with Carrier workers | City, state stepping in to help Carrier employees | Indiana leaders ask Carrier for a meeting to try to keep the plant, jobs in the state
