Carrier Union Leader on Trump's Jobs Claim: "I Almost Threw Up in My Mouth"

President-elect Donald Trump's smoke-and-mirrors speech last week to Carrier employees had their union leader saying he "almost threw up in his mouth."

As consumer advocate Ralph Nader wrote, "Trump made Carrier, a subsidiary of giant United Technology, his poster-child for showing how the U.S. is losing jobs under NAFTA."

Trump boasted last week that he reached a deal with United Technologies that would keep over 1,100 jobs at the Indianapolis plant and not be moved to Mexico. But T.J. Bray, a Carrier worker and communications representative for United Steelworkers 1999, which represents the workers, said to Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR on Monday, "We found out today that more jobs are leaving than what we originally thought."

"It seemed like since Thursday, it was 1,100 then it was maybe 900, and then now we're at 700. So I'm hoping it doesn't go any lower than that," Bray said. In fact, as workers found out, 730 factory jobs and 70 supervisor positions will be saved.

Speaking at the Indianapolis Carrier plant Thursday, Trump told employees, "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."

Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers 1999, told the Washington Post he had hoped Trump would offer an explanation when he came to speak at the plant. "But he got up there and, for whatever reason, lied his a-- off."

"Trump and [Vice President-elect and Indiana Gov. Mike] Pence, they pulled a dog and pony show on the numbers," Jones said. "I almost threw up in my mouth," he added.

The figure Trump touted, WTHR wrote, may have been because he "was including 350 research and development jobs that were never going to move to Mexico in the first place. Those were jobs that Carrier said all along would stay in Indianapolis."

During his campaign Trump promised to "bring jobs back" to the U.S., and said in April that he'd make companies like Carrier that offshore jobs pay a 35 percent tax.

Instead, United Technologies is going to get $7 million in tax credits from Indiana over 10 years. Company CEO Greg Hayes told CNBC that it was "a good deal for UTC [United Technologies]."

"We still got to do the preponderance of the restructuring, which we were going to do anyways," Hayes said.

Bernie Sanders wrote last week that Trump "has signaled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives." He added:

In exchange for allowing United Technologies to continue to offshore more than 1,000 jobs, Trump will reportedly give the company tax and regulatory favors that the corporation has sought. Just a short few months ago, Trump was pledging to force United Technologies to "pay a damn tax." He was insisting on very steep tariffs for companies like Carrier that left the United States and wanted to sell their foreign-made products back in the United States. Instead of a damn tax, the company will be rewarded with a damn tax cut. Wow! How's that for standing up to corporate greed? How's that for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States and move abroad?

"Nonetheless," wroteThinkProgress' Ned Resnikoff, "the deal appears to have had its intended effect. Following days of misleading, laudatory news coverage, a new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds 60 percent of respondents now have a more favorable view of the president-elect thanks to the Carrier deal."

All 700 employees at the United Technologies plant in Huntington, Ind., meanwhile, are expected to lose their jobs, as they will be outsourced to Mexico.