INDIANAPOLIS – Carrier workers were blindsided last winter when their employer decided to ship their jobs overseas. Aside from their choice to not meet with workers, what was Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb’s response? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In fact, Eric Holcomb went even further and said “There is nothing that Indiana could have done to keep those jobs.” But you’re wrong, Eric. The state could have held Carrier accountable for abandoning its workers instead of blaming the federal government.
“Hoosiers want to know the state has their backs the moment the unexpected happens, and Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb proved they can only blame others,” said John Zody, chairman. “It took weeks for the Pence-Holcomb Administration to try to hold Carrier accountable for abandoning Hoosiers, and they stopped the moment they reached the first roadblock. Hoosiers don’t want a governor who quits on them that easy. They want someone who will exhaust all options to put Hoosiers first. That’s not Pence-Holcomb.”
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: PENCE-HOLCOMB ADMIN DID NOTHING TO HELP CARRIER WORKERS
Holcomb Called Of Carrier’s Announcement That They Were Moving Jobs To Mexico: “They Made A Business Decision.” According to the Kokomo Tribune, “Q: ‘Speaking of the business community, what can you do to ensure that there isn’t a repeat of Carrier?’ [Holcomb]: ‘We need a partner in the White House, to be quite frank, and I’m not just trying to project blame. But we met with Carrier, and we said, this is what the frustrating part was, we are the No. 1 manufacturing state in the country. Our tax climate is top five in the country and No. 1 in the Midwest. Our regulatory climate is top five in the country. If you can’t make it in Indiana, you probably can’t make it in the country. ‘They said it’s got nothing to do with Indiana, it’s got everything to do with the regulatory environment coming out of Washington, out of this administration and the Department of Energy’s new regulations … specifically against their industry. ‘It just became a matter of, they’re an international company and they’ve got to settle internationally and they have to deal with all these regulations here that many perceive to be more ideologically rooted. So they made a business decision. ‘If it were up to Indiana, we would have been able to keep them here, but it wasn’t. … [The Obama administration] is literally pushing jobs away, so we shouldn’t be surprised that a company like Carrier says, ‘I can go to a different country and not have to deal with these regulations.’” [Kokomo Tribune, 5/2/16]
Holcomb: “There Is Nothing That The State Of Indiana Could Have Done To Keep Those Jobs.” According to the Huntington Herald Press, “Holcomb also answered questions from the audience, including ones involving United Technologies Electronics Controls (UTEC) moving its manufacturing division to Mexico by 2018. ‘I think the comments from the attendees were spot on. The one thing that I constantly ask is what we could have done here locally to prevent jobs from leaving the state of Indiana. If you can’t make it in Indiana, you can’t make it anywhere in the country, because there is nothing that the State of Indiana could have done to keep those jobs,’ Holcomb said. Holcomb said he believes the reason for the loss of local and statewide jobs is linked to the current administration’s federal regulations. ‘It is something that has been imposed on them over the years causing them to work outside of our country,’ he said. He said during an interview that while he is not necessarily opposed to regulations entirely, there needs to be a fine balance in order to keep jobs in Indiana and in the country. ‘The current administration is strangling companies and smothering them up with red tape that is costing them too much to do business. So, we need to taper back some of the regulations. But reasonable regulation is good,’ he said.” [Huntington Herald Press, 3/20/16]
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