Trump, Pence save nearly 1,000 jobs from moving to Mexico

Make America work again.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect Mike Pence struck a deal with Carrier on Monday, saving “close to 1,000” jobs in Indiana by preventing the air-conditioning company from moving its production lines to Mexico.

“I will be going to Indiana on Thursday to make a major announcement concerning Carrier A.C. staying in Indianapolis,” Trump tweeted Tuesday night. “We will keep our companies and jobs in the U.S. Thanks Carrier.”

The company also sent out a tweet, saying, “We are pleased to have reached a deal with President-elect Trump & VP-elect Pence to keep close to 1,000 jobs in Indy. More details soon.”

Pence, who is governor of Indiana, is believed to be spearheading the plan, which includes unspecified incentives from the state, according to the Indianapolis Star.

The company had come under withering criticism from Trump during the presidential campaign when it announced that it would move some of its production to Monterrey, Mexico.

Trump’s transition team did not comment on the deal, but he and Pence are expected to make a joint appearance in Indianapolis on Thursday to formally announce the agreement.

Trump made bringing back factory jobs to the United States and revitalizing America’s working class a staple of his campaign.

He reiterated his pledge after the election, tweeting last week that he was “working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the U.S.”

Carrier had announced during the campaign that it planned to relocate 2,000 jobs south of the border.

When the union protested, the company said it expected to save $65 million a year by paying the Mexican workers just $3 an hour, the Indianapolis Star reported.

That would have been about $23 an hour less than what the American workers make.

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Trump repeatedly threatened the company during the campaign by warning he would slap a 35-percent tariff on any products made in the Mexican factories.

Carrier’s parent company has a cozy financial relationship with the federal government.

United Technologies gets some $5 billion in revenue annually from the federal government, about 10 percent of its cash flow, according to The New York Times.

The union, meanwhile, is concerned about the jobs that are still in limbo.

“If they’re saying they’re going to retain 1,000 jobs, that would mean 400 are going away,” Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, told USA Today.

Jones said Monday night that he still did not know the details of the deal.

“We’re trying to find out what that consists of,” he told the paper.

“We haven’t had any luck.”