Carrier union leader: Trump's attack means I'm doing my job

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis union leader said he's been receiving threats for his outspoken criticism of President-elect Donald Trump, who took to Twitter on Wednesday night to call him out.

Trump twice tweeted about United Steelworkers Local 1999 and its president, Chuck Jones, saying Jones has done a "terrible job" representing workers and that the union should "spend more time working."

Local 1999 represents workers from Carrier Corp. and Rexnord Corp., both companies with Indianapolis locations that have announced plans to close Indianapolis plants and move those operations to Mexico.

Carrier announced those plans — then affecting more than 1,000 union workers — in February, while Rexnord made its announcement affecting 300 in October.

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Jones previously criticized Trump's campaign promises to keep Carrier and the affected jobs in Indianapolis and continued to be outspoken with his criticisms of the deal, telling The Washington Post earlier this week that Trump "lied his a-- off."

Jones told The Indianapolis Star on Wednesday night that he had been getting threats since The Post story was published Tuesday from people he said were Trump supporters.

"Calling me names, wanting to know if I have children," he said. "I better watch out for myself, and they know what kind of car I drive, that I better watch out for my kids."

Jones said later in an interview with MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell that callers had been asking those kinds of questions all day.

"Nothing that says they’re gonna kill me, but, you know, you better keep your eye on your kids," he told O'Donnell. "We know what car you drive. Things along those lines."

Jones told The Indianapolis Star that the first tweet was evidence to him that he was doing his job.

"First of all, that means I’m doing, and we’re doing, as labor representatives, the best we can for the people to give them a living wage and good benefits," Jones said. "No, what he says, that don’t bother me."

Trump visited Carrier's facility last week after it was announced that the incoming administration had reached a deal with the furnace manufacturer, keeping the Indianapolis plant open and saving more than 1,000 jobs.

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As part of the deal, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Carrier up to $5 million in conditional tax credits, plus up to $1 million in training grants to support work force development and another $1 million in tax credits if the company continues to invest in the Indianapolis location.

Jones said he took issue with Trump trying to take credit for saving 1,100 union jobs at Carrier, while the number of jobs retained was closer to 730. Altogether, about 600 layoffs are expected in mid-2017.

After layoffs, Carrier's Indianapolis plant will have about 800 manufacturing workers and 300 engineering employees.

"What he did was he gave false hope for three days to people that worked in that facility that they might not lose their job," Jones said.

Trump tweeted again, an hour later, saying the union needs to "spend more time working."

Jones brushed off the comment, saying Trump was again wrong in his claims.

"We offered up $23 million per year in concessions," he said. But the company wanted to save $65 million, so it turned down that offer, Jones said.

"He don’t know, once again, what in the hell he’s talking about," Jones said.

Jones reiterated that sentiment on MSNBC, saying if Trump had blamed the loss of the jobs on the union and its workers during the campaign, as he appeared to be doing in his second tweet, he would have lost some votes.

“I’m going to assume that some of them would have thought twice before they would have voted for Mr. Trump," Jones told O'Donnell. "The whole thing is ridiculous."

He added that in order for Carrier to have saved that $65 million, workers would have to be paid $5 an hour, below minimum wage, and would go without benefits.

But until Trump acknowledges that he wasn't telling the whole truth, Jones said he's going to keep calling him out on what he says are "falsehoods."

"I’m not backing up on my position one iota," Jones told O'Donnell. "He’s wrong, and I’m right.”

If Trump decides he wants to continue his work to save union jobs at Carrier and Rexnord, Jones told The Indianapolis Star, he would be open to working with Trump and his team, despite disagreements.

"When it comes to people's livelihoods, I think everybody has to put everything aside," Jones said.

Contributing: James Briggs and Tony Cook, The Indianapolis Star. Follow Holly Hays on Twitter: @hollyvhays

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