Carrier, union agree to severance deal for 1,400 workers

Carrier Corp. and United Steelworkers Local 1999 have agreed on a severance package that will provide 1,400 employees who are being displaced in Indianapolis six months of medical insurance and the equivalent of one week's pay for every year of service.

The agreement released Wednesday also allows employees to be reimbursed for education and technical training, and it extends the labor contract in place at the Indianapolis plant. Work there is being moved to Mexico.

Carrier’s parent company, United Technologies Corp., announced in February that it planned to relocate manufacturing operations from Indianapolis to Monterrey, Mexico over the next three years. The company manufactures heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems at a plant at 7310 W. Morris St. on the west side. Job losses are scheduled to begin in 2017 and continue through 2019.

Union business representative Kelly Hugunin said the agreement is better for workers than called for in a labor contract.

Carrier spokeswoman Michelle Caldwell said in a written statement that "Carrier recognizes the impact on employees, their families and the community."

Mayor Joe Hogsett announced in April that the city’s Carrier Task Force—which he established by executive order—planned to establish a $1.2 million fund to assist affected workers. The money given by Carrier and its parent company equaled the amount the city gave to the company in local tax incentives in 2011.

Gov. Mike Pence also announced that UTC has repaid state training grants in the amount of $380,000. The state had paid out $530,000 over the past nine years in training grants through several contracts, but one of the grants given in 2007 was too old to be recuperated.

UTC also is closing an electronic controls factory in Huntington with 700 workers.