Carrier, a heating and air-conditioning system manufacturer has announced the layoff of 215 employees in its plant in Indianapolis. The company’s jobs numbers were thrust into the spotlight after President Trump visited the plan in 2015. The company had announced a round of layoffs and the moving of the plant to Mexico. President Trump said that should he be elected president, the practice of offshoring jobs would stop.
Shortly after winning, the president announced that he had brokered a deal that would keep the carrier plant and its jobs in Indiana. Despite the plant remaining though, many of its jobs have been eliminated. Carrier announced that it was cutting 300 jobs last July. That, in addition to the 215 that announced this week.
Chuck Jones, the former president of the USW local in Indianapolis, and someone who vocally criticized the President Trump at the time of the deal, said some of the anger felt on the part of the employees is directed at the president. “The folks who voted for Donald Trump all felt like they were betrayed. They bought into his promises,” he said.
Jones said he’s also concerned that there may be more layoffs in the future. Soon after the deal was announced that kept the plant in Indiana, the CEO of Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies, Greg Hayes, said that the $16 million that the company announced would be invested in the plant would be spent on automation. He said that would mean fewer jobs.