Who Is Chuck Jones? USW Local President Takes On Donald Trump, Challenging The President-Elect On The Carrier Deal

The Carrier union official who was subjected to ridicule by Donald Trump said Thursday he’s not about to allow the president-elect to mislead workers by giving them false hope.

Chuck Jones, president of Local 1999 of the United Steelworkers union, penned an op-ed in the Washington Post, refusing to be bullied by Trump into backing down.

Jones Wednesday accused Trump of lying when he said 1,100 jobs would be preserved at the Indianapolis Carrier plant when it actuality only 730 jobs would be preserved and 550 workers would be laid off.

Jones had said Trump was “lying his a-- off” when he said otherwise.

“What I can't abide … is a president who misleads workers, who gives them false hope. We're not asking for anything besides opportunity, for jobs that let people provide for their families,” Jones wrote. “These plants are profitable, and the workers produced a good-quality product. Because of corporate greed, though, company leaders are racing to the bottom, to find places where they can pay the least. It's a system that exploits everyone.”

Trump was incensed by Jones first salvo, tweeting Wednesday that if Jones was any good at representing his union members, their jobs wouldn’t have been in jeopardy in the first place.

Jones said Carrier first told the union it planned to move the Indianapolis manufacturing jobs to Mexico in February. USW negotiators came up with $23 million in savings but Carrier rejected their proposal, saying the company could save $65 million by moving the plant.

“We couldn't match that unless we were willing to cut wages to $5 an hour and cut all benefits,” Jones said.

“So we started to negotiate a severance package instead — one week of pay for every year of service, a $2,500 lump sum for every employee and free healthcare for six months.”

Jones said he was angered when Trump last Thursday portrayed his $7 million tax incentive deal with Carrier as saving 1,100 jobs in Indianapolis.

“Trump let people believe that they were going to have a livelihood in that facility. He let people breathe easy,” he said. “When I told our members the next day, they were devastated.”

Jones said he doesn’t believe Trump just erred on the numbers.

“On the campaign trail, Trump made perfectly clear how excellent a negotiator he is. I have negotiated hundreds of contracts. I know that if I'm going to have a fighting chance, I better damn well know the numbers,” Jones said.

“I'm tired of being lied to.”