Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Saturday he will soon introduce legislation to prevent outsourcing of American jobs, including more than 2,000 Indiana jobs being shipped to Mexico by Carrier and UTEC.
Sanders said his proposed legislation, called the Outsourcing Prevention Act, will “provide a comprehensive solution to address this problem” of job outsourcing.
“During the campaign, Donald Trump made a 100 percent commitment to prevent United Technologies from shipping 2,100 jobs from Indiana to Mexico. All of us need to hold Mr. Trump accountable to make sure that he keeps this promise,” said Sanders. “Let’s be clear: it is not good enough to save some of these jobs. We cannot rest until United Technologies signs a firm contract to keep all of these good-paying jobs in Indiana without slashing the salaries or benefits workers have earned.”
Sanders said United Technologies is “not going broke” and made billions of dollars in defense contracts.
In a statement issued Saturday, Sanders said:
“In 2014, United Technologies gave its former CEO Louis Chenevert a golden parachute worth over $172 million. Last year, the company’s five highest paid executives made over $50 million. The firm also spent $12 billion to inflate its stock price instead of using that money to invest in new plants and workers.
“I call on Mr. Trump to make it clear to the CEO of United Technologies that if his firm wants to receive another defense contract from the taxpayers of this country, it must not move these plants to Mexico.
“We need to send a very loud and very clear message to corporate America: the era of outsourcing is over. Instead of offshoring jobs, the time has come for you to start bringing good-paying jobs back to the United States of America
“If United Technologies or any other company wants to keep outsourcing decent-paying American jobs, those companies must pay an outsourcing tax equal to the amount of money it expects to save by moving factories to Mexico or other low-wage countries. They must pay back all of the tax breaks and other corporate welfare they have received from the federal government. And they must not be allowed to reward their executives with stock options, bonuses or golden parachutes for outsourcing jobs to low wage countries.
Sanders Outsourcing Prevention Act will aim to:
- Prevent companies that outsource jobs from receiving federal contracts, tax breaks, grants or loans.
- Claw back federal benefits from companies that outsource jobs have received over the last decade.
- Establish an outsourcing tax on companies that move U.S. jobs offshore.
- Prohibit executives from profiting off of the outsourcing of U.S. jobs.
The act comes just days after President-elect Donald Trump announced on Twitter he was working to keep Carrier jobs in Indiana.
I am working hard, even on Thanksgiving, trying to get Carrier A.C. Company to stay in the U.S. (Indiana). MAKING PROGRESS - Will know soon!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2016
A few hours after Trump’s tweet, Carrier tweeted:
Carrier has had discussions with the incoming administration and we look forward to working together. Nothing to announce at this time.
— Carrier (@Carrier) November 24, 2016
You can read more about Sanders’ proposal here.
FULL CARRIER COVERAGE: DOCUMENTARY SERIES: Moving to Mexico with 1,400 of Indy's lost jobs| Jilted workers get first look at Carrier's offer | TIMELINE: Carrier to ship 1,400 jobs from Indiana to Mexico | Trump made money off of Carrier in 2015 | Carrier president: More growth expected in '16 |Ex-Carrier employee sentenced for embezzlement | Carrier pay in Mexico questioned | Carrier refutes offer of $5.85/hour for workers to stay in Indy | Coats, Donnelly have 'disappointing' meeting with Carrier execs | Sen. Donnelly: Carrier never cited federal regulations as reason for move | Union president: 'We're not going away quietly' | Carrier employees protest move at statehouse | Pence on Carrier meeting: 'I don't want to create any false hope for people'| Moving to Mexico: What you need to know about Monterrey, Mexico | Moving to Mexico: On the ground in Monterrey, Mexico, where Carrier is moving Trump weights in on Carrier relocation to Mexico | Carrier: Company did not receive $5M in federal stimulus funds | President of United Steelworkers Union: No hope of saving 1,400 jobs | Carrier employees, local businesses reel after announcement of move to Mexico |WATCH: Employees react to news that Carrier is moving from Indy to Mexico
