INDIANAPOLIS – Congressman Rokita still has yet to say what jobs he was referring to as “dead-ends,” but he could have been referring to outsourced jobs at Carrier and Rexnord, considering his lack of action to save them.
At a campaign stop Monday at a steel manufacturing company in Avilla, Congressman Rokita said that the positions there aren’t “dead-end jobs,” which the article itself contrasted with “many industrial jobs [that] are held by members of the older generation.” The article has forced Hoosiers to wonder which jobs Congressman Rokita was referring to when he made his remark.
If Congressman Rokita believes that “dead end” jobs aren’t worth saving, it’s possible that he viewed the thousands of Hoosier manufacturing jobs that Carrier and Rexnord shipped to other countries as “dead ends.” After all, Congressman Rokita did nothing to stop the outsourcing of those jobs when the announcements were made. Congressman Rokita even hung onto donations from United Technologies, Carrier’s parent company, in the wake of their 2016 outsourcing announcment.
“Hoosiers are proud of Indiana’s legacy as the most manufacturing intensive state in the nation, and the idea that a career politician like Congressman Rokita would deride any Hoosier’s job as a ‘dead end’ is beyond belief,” said Michael Feldman, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party. “However, it’s less shocking considering that when companies like Carrier and Rexnord announced plans to lay off thousands of Hoosier workers and ship their manufacturing jobs overseas, Congressman Rokita did nothing to stop them. Are those the type of “dead end” jobs he’s happy to see let go?”
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