Bernie Sanders: Trump’s Carrier deal should send a ‘shock wave of fear’ through all workers

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders condemned President-elect Donald Trump’s deal to keep 1,000 Carrier jobs on American shores in an editorial for The Washington Post on Thursday, saying it should send “a shock wave of fear” through workers across the nation.

On Tuesday, Trump announced a deal with United Technologies, the corporation that owns Carrier, a heating and air conditioning company, that will keep 1,000 of the company’s jobs in Indiana instead of shipping them to Mexico. In exchange, Carrier said it received “incentives” from the state, where Vice President-elect Mike Pence is still governor, but did not provide specifics.

“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?” Sanders wrote. “How’s that for punishing corporations that shut down in the United States and move abroad? In essence, United Technologies took Trump hostage and won. And that should send a shock wave of fear through all workers across the country.”

In February, the heating and air conditioning company announced it would close its Indianapolis plant and offshore jobs to Mexico. While campaigning, Trump pledged to save the factory and others like it and keep jobs in the U.S., reports the Associated Press. Trump threatened sharp tariffs on companies that shifted factories to Mexico.

“Trump has endangered the jobs of workers who were previously safe in the United States. Why? Because he has signaled to every corporation in America that they can threaten to offshore jobs in exchange for business-friendly tax benefits and incentives,” Sanders writes.

Read the full story in The Washington Post.