President-elect Donald Trump used Twitter late Wednesday to pound the union chief who had sharply criticized the President-elect's claims to have saved more than 1,000 jobs at the "Carrier plant in Indianapolis," and set off a war of words over who best represents American workers.
Chuck Jones, president of the United Steelworkers 1999 that represents workers at Carrier, apparently attracted Trump's ire for a Dec. 6 Washington Post article that quoted Jones as saying the terms of deal with Carrier parent firm United Technologies were less than originally sought.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; once of America's highest-profile unions also tweeted.Chuck Jones had stated comments made by Trump during the presidential campaign in which the President-elect stated that he aimed to save the jobs of 1,350 workers, but instead announced on Dec. 1 that only 1,100 jobs would stay in Indiana.
"Everything Mr. Trump did to save some jobs, at the same time he misled us into believing something that is not true," as stated by Chuck Jones in an interview at CNBC.
"I was right about calling him out. I stand behind what I've said. People got false hope that he saved 1,100 jobs, when that's not the truth. He completely left out the truth that it was only 800 jobs," added by Chuck Jones referring to the new elect president.
Chuck Jones said he was ready to continue from war with the next U.S. commander-in-chief.
"If he wants to do a battle of words, I stand behind my statements," as stated by Chuck Jones.
Jones had met with Indiana Governor Mike Pence in March for talks on how to avoid job losses at the Carrier plant. Mike Pence, who are now also Trump's vice president-elect, said at the time that he was working with the union to save the jobs.