Federal response team talks to Carrier workers
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Following the announcement Carrier’s plant in Morrison would be closed next year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced a federal response team would help affected workers. Representatives of that team met with local and state officials, as well as union representatives, workforce development officials and educators, here Friday morning in a roundtable discussion.
Among those present were the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. David Sampson and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Emily DeRocco.
“Our goal was to begin the dialogue with the workers, with local elected leaders, about the future of the community and the help we can and should provide to workers in transition,” DeRocco said after meeting with about 50 people at the Morrison Ruritan building.
Locals asked questions ranging from retirement and health care issues to pointedly asking where those who have been employed at Carrier for decades are going to work once the plant closes. They also asked how those who are middle-aged can educate themselves for new careers that pay similar wages.
DeRocco said those types of questions were familiar to team members who have managed similar efforts elsewhere.
“It’s clear we’re at the beginning of the process here,” she said. “You go through a grieving process just like you do when you lose a loved one and it’s very hard to see anything bright in the future initially.
“But we have had the experience in other communities throughout our country where the next step is for them to see the help that’s available number one, that there are going to be new job opportunities and that regardless of their age, quite frankly, they do have opportunities to gain new skills and to move into new jobs and in some cases, move into new careers.”
The federal response team is designed to provide information to workers via labor representatives, as well as gather input from participants about the local impacts of plant closures. Secondly, the team is also designed to focus upon economic development options.
Sampson added Friday’s meeting showed a willingness to come together for a common cause, which is the issue of jobs, and noted he understands Tennessee is particularly affected by manufacturing job losses because the state has a higher percentage than the national average of workers in manufacturing.
However, he noted he was impressed at the local gathering of concerned parties.
“In some ways this community is a little bit further ahead of the game than some of the other communities we’ve worked in where you don’t see that consensus emerging quickly,” Sampson said. “We’ll stay focused and we’ll be deploying our resources at the commerce department to develop an economic diversification strategy in this county as well as the surrounding area.”
Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 483 president and Carrier stockman Donald Rackley said after the meeting he considered the effort a positive move.
“They’re stepping up to the plate and trying to say there’s all these benefits out here that will apply to us if we qualify for them,” Rackley said. “The members will learn a lot from what they put out there for them.”
Sampson said the idea is for team representatives to return in a matter of weeks.
“We want to be as responsive as early as possible so that all of the workers here know all of those systems are in place and there’s an easy point of access,” he added.