Trump's America: Two coal plants announce closures in Ohio, layoffs at Carrier factories in Indiana

Daily Kos Staff

Tuesday March 21, 2017 · 1:34 PM PDT

2017/03/21 · 13:34

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 01: President-elect Donald Trump speaks to workers at Carrier air conditioning and heating on December 1, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Remember when Donald Trump appeared in Indiana to announce he’d saved 1,100 jobs that Carrier and United Technologies were planning to send to Mexico? A refresher from early December:

“But I will tell you that United Technologies and Carrier stepped it up and now they’re keeping — actually the number’s over 1,100 people, which is so great, which is so great …. I just noticed — I wrote down because I heard it — since about six years ago, 260 new federal regulations have passed, 53 of which affect this plant. Fifty-three new regulations. Massively expensive and probably none of them amount to anything in terms of safety or the things that you’d have regulations for.”

His fans cheered and chanted, hailing their king of bankruptcy for saving all those jobs. Except, as the Washington Post later mentioned, those numbers were—the jobs and the regulations— false.

This week significant layoffs were announced at three Carrier, United Technologies and Rexnord factories in Indiana.

United Technologies confirmed Friday that the first wave of about 50 layoffs happened last week at its electronics plant that had about 700 workers in Huntington. The plant in the northeastern Indiana city is slated for closure.

Steps are also being taken toward about 550 job cuts anticipated at a Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis, where Trump's intervention last fall curbed job losses but didn't halt them altogether. Layoffs could start within a month at a 350-worker Rexnord industrial bearings factory in Indianapolis, according to United Steelworkers Local 1999 President Chuck Jones, who represents workers at the Carrier and Rexnord plants.

There is no snark here, only heartache for the Indiana families who are soon to be out of work entirely.

Meanwhile, over in Southern Ohio, where Donald Trump’s promise to bring back those coal jobs took a hit this week as not one, but two coal plant closures were announced:

Dayton Power & Light, a subsidiary of AES Corp. (AES), said in an emailed statement that it planned to close the J.M. Stuart and Killen plants by June 2018 because they would not be “economically viable beyond mid-2018.”

Coal demand has flagged in recent years due to competition from cheap and plentiful natural gas.

The plants along the Ohio River in Adams County employ some 490 people and generate about 3,000 megawatts of power from coal.

Those coal jobs aren’t coming back, despite the promises candidate Donald Trump made:

The plants sit at the heart of a region Trump vowed to revitalize with more jobs and greater economic security during his 2016 campaign. As part of his pledge to reinvigorate the area, Trump also said he would “bring back coal.”

Where are you now, Donald Trump? Can you spare a weekend away from your private golf course to ride in and save the day in Indiana and Ohio?

Trump's America: Two coal plants announce closures in Ohio, layoffs at Carrier factories in Indiana

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