INDIANAPOLIS — Steeling himself against the cold outside the Carrier air-conditioning plant on Thursday, Brian Dyson is ecstatic.
“Look, when Trump came here and said he was going to save jobs, I saw that as just another promise from a politician. Now I realize he is not a politician but a salesman and a deal-maker,” he said, pausing then adding, “And I kind of like it.”
Last week, President-elect Donald Trump stunned the nation when Carrier tweeted that they had worked out a deal with his team to save at least 1,000 of the 1,400 jobs that were set to be sent to Monterrey, Mexico next year.
When a victorious Trump, in his trademark red tie and blue suit, visited Carrier’s Indianapolis factory on Thursday, he was given a standing ovation by several hundred employees in the company auditorium.
Even among many of the workers who did not vote for the president-elect, the moment was electrifying. “To have the president-elect of the United States come to tell you ‘I have not forgotten you’, well that is a powerful moment for people who have felt as though their quest for dignified work and life was over,” said Dyson.
Dyson, who places sales on the line at the plant, has spent half his life here at Carrier. “It’s been a good job, it’s afforded me the ability to have that middle-class lifestyle that everyone dreams you can achieve when you work hard at your craft,” the 44-year old said.