Pro-jobs, anti-greed

April 30--Like many other union members, Aaron Curtis traveled from Fort Wayne to stand on the lawn of the Indiana State Capitol in a rally calling for jobs to remain in Indiana.

And like the majority of protesters from around the state gathered Friday afternoon, he wanted to see and hear presidential candidate Bernie Sanders talk about the issues of low wages and corporate greed and give support to displaced workers from Carrier Corp.

"I'm here to support the Carrier workers," Curtis said, clutching a large sign reading "Stop The War on Workers" that he waved frequently. "I wanted to hear Bernie, too," he said, approving of the Vermont senator's call for a $15 minimum wage, gender equality in pay, rebuilding infrastructure and political reform. "I think it's great, a right-on message. It's what Americans need," Curtis said.

John Tribby, a union steelworker from Gary, couldn't have agreed more.

"I think Bernie has an awful lot of good ideas. It puts conscience back in the government," Tribby said.

Tribby drove to Indianapolis on Friday with three other retired union friends to march in protest against Carrier Corp. and parent company United Technologies, which abruptly announced in February that it will move its Indiana manufacturing operation to Mexico, eliminating more than 2,000 Hoosier jobs.

As union supporters packed the area in front of the south steps of the Capitol building, filling in behind them were a multitude of Bernie Sanders supporters, many often trying to yell above the crowd to call for Sanders' appearance. They waited for more than two hours for Sanders to address the crowd, delaying a march through the downtown around Monument Circle.

While union representatives gave away buttons, signs and literature supporting American jobs, other vendors sold buttons and items supporting the Sanders campaign.

Sanders called for the leadership of United Technologies to respect its workers and stop exporting jobs. He called for them to repay "all of the corporate welfare they have received" in the way of government contracts, tax breaks and incentives.

"I plan to do everything I can to prevent United Technologies from shutting down their plants in Indianapolis and Huntington, from throwing 2,100 hundred American workers out on the street and moving to Monterrey, Mexico, where they're going to pay people there $3 an hour," Sanders said, decrying the executive compensation packages that pay millions to CEOs. "This is unacceptable. This is the kind of corporate behavior that is depriving the middle class of this country. This is the kind of corporate behavior that together we will end."

Gripping both sides of the speaker's podium in his familiar posture of hunched shoulders, Sanders steadily restated a frequent pledge to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Mindful of the union audience, he called for the use of American-made steel -- rather than steel from China -- in the rebuilding of America's highways and utilities. He also called for free tuition to public colleges and universities, as well as free health care and three months of paid family and medical leave.

"What this campaign is about is a call for a political revolution," Sanders said to much applause and chants of "Bernie, Bernie."

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"This campaign is about having millions of Americans -- working people, middle class, low-income people, young people -- stand up and get involved in the political process in a way that we have never seen before. Stand up and fight back so that we can create a government that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors."

Not everyone at the rally was pro-Sanders, however.

Indianapolis resident Andrew Bradley openly wore a Hillary Clinton sticker, and stood alone on the lawn. He said he attended the Indianapolis rally where Bill Clinton recently campaigned for wife, and it was then that Bradley made up his mind to support her for president.

"I was already leaning toward voting for Hillary, and I appreciate the passion that Bernie brings to the campaign," Bradley said, "but I wanted to hear his policies and how he planned to implement them, and I couldn't wait any longer."

Chuck Stanford, a Terre Haute native now in the insurance business in Indianapolis, also attended the rally wearing an Indiana State University sweatshirt.

"Frankly, I'm not sure I'm on board with the anti-trade statements," Stanford said, though he does support Sanders in general.

Also attacking Carrier from the podium was U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana), who called the Carrier move "disgraceful" and "unAmerican" and called for trade laws that will not let companies like Carrier sell its foreign-made products in America without fair trade practices.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Gregg also received shouts of support as he called out Gov. Mike Pence for failing to stop the Carrier shutdown, and for his support of legislation many see as discriminatory to women and LGBT people.

"I want you to know that Gov. Pence, he's more worried about who you live with, and who you love, and ladies, he wants to go to the doctor's office with you," Gregg shouted. "He doesn't care about your job."

The rally, organized by the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers, featured frequent criticism of big business and Carrier's disregard for its employees.

Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter at TribStarLisa.

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