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Final round of Carrier layoffs to happen today

Posted at 10:44 PM, Jan 09, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-11 18:37:32-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- Almost two years ago, Carrier announced it was relocating more than 1,000 Indianapolis jobs to Monterrey, Mexico. 

Thirteen months ago, then-president-elect Donald Trump announced a deal with Carrier that would keep a majority of the jobs in Indianapolis.

Six months ago, about 300 employees were laid off, as the company moves its fan coil manufacturing lines to Mexico.

And Thursday, about 200 more people were laid off, ending a saga that has put Indianapolis in the national spotlight for months. 

The Carrier ordeal kicked off in February 2016 with a video of a manager telling employees the company was relocating the plant to Monterrey, Mexico. The video exploded in popularity overnight, drawing the attention of Donald Trump, then a presidential candidate. 

Trump tweeteda link to the video with the words, "I am the only one who can fix this. Very sad. Will not happen under my watch!"

On the campaign trail, he repeatedly brought up Carrier, saying things like "You're gonna pay a damn tax."

After he was elected president, Trump and Carrier announced a deal to keep a majority of the jobs in Indianapolis. About 700 jobs were saved in the deal. Another 300 that were touted as "saved" by the Trump administration were corporate jobs that were never leaving in the first place. To keep jobs in Indiana, the state will give the company $7 million, as long as it employs more than 1,000 people over the next decade.

In all, about 500 Carrier jobs were lost, with the layoffs coming in two waves -- in July 2017 and on Thursday. 

The first wave saw 340 employees laid off. On those employees' emotional last day, many of them autographed one of the units they helped to build. The unit was put on display, marking an era they helped build at the company.

The announcement, deal and subsequent layoffs were also personal for Chuck Jones, the former president of United Steelworkers 1999. Jones said he was optimistic about the deal between Carrier and Trump, until he learned some of the workers would still lose their jobs. 

"“Trump and Pence, they pulled a dog and pony show on the numbers,” Jones told the Washington Post. “I almost threw up in my mouth.”

This caused Trump to attack Jones in tweets, saying he "has done a terrible job representing workers."

Jones retired as union president in August 2017.

This last wave will affect about 215 more workers, according to the United Steelworkers Local 1999.

Carrier released the following statement about the final wave of layoffs:

This week, approximately 215 employees will leave Carrier, completing the final phase of the previously announced plan to relocate fan coil manufacturing production lines. Following the transition, Carrier’s Indianapolis operations will employ approximately 1,100 people.  
 
Since the initial announcement, approximately 60 impacted employees have chosen to take advantage of the company’s Employee Scholar Program and pursue degree programs. In addition to reimbursing four-year education costs, Carrier has also reimbursed, and will continue to reimburse, technical training costs for those who prefer to pursue a vocational technical certification program. All impacted employees will also receive a one-time payment, severance pay and six months of medical insurance continuation beyond separation.
 
United Technologies, parent company to Carrier, announced in June 2017 that over the next three years it expects to hire nearly 25,000 people in the U.S., of which more than 5,000 new positions will be created in support of the company’s innovative new products.

This second wave comes a few weeks later than originally anticipated. These 215 workers were supposed to lose their jobs three days before Christmas, but because of business demand before the holiday season, the company asked those workers to stay on through the beginning of this year. All the workers who are leaving are being offered severance package as part of the union deal.

READ | Carrier workers asked to stay on the job longer; layoffs delayed until January

Under the $7 million agreement, Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies, will also be investing $16 million in their Indianapolis plant.

Senator Joe Donnelly released the following statement on Thursday's layoffs:

“The only thing more outrageous than the fact that hundreds of Hoosier workers are losing their jobs to outsourcing is that Congress has refused to address the problem through the recently passed tax bill. Not only does the new tax law continue to force taxpayers to subsidize the cost of moving jobs out of the country, it creates new incentives for corporations to move more American jobs to foreign countries in order to pay a lower tax rate.”

TRUMP AND CARRIER | Trump weighs in on Carrier relocation to Mexico  | Carrier: Company did not receive $5M in federal stimulus funds  | Trump: Carrier should be taxed for their goods after move to Mexico | Pence to review Carrier's plans to move to Mexico | Carrier: Company did not receive $5M in federal stimulus funds | Trump made money off of Carrier in 2015

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