Former HON employee (2002-2016) here. The article is from 2013, and at that time what he said was accurate. I honestly felt HON treated its employees pretty well during the 2009-2010 recession. They didn't do the layoffs, they did furloughs. I probably would feel different if I was one of the ones who had to take many weeks of furlough, but the 2 weeks I took were fine by me.
That said, it was what HON did after that recession that was when, IMO, Cote and the rest of his crew started acting like short-sighted misers. They started chipping away at little things - extra negotiated vacation, etc., - but the first big one was no raises in 2013 (2014?). The company was at record profitability, never stronger, but you couldn't even give your employees the crappy 2.5% raise they were used to? They did it again in 2015 or 2016, and then the round after round of layoffs and furloughs after that.
It makes you want Cote to go back and read this article to himself. I suppose he'd say, well, we're never going to hire those people back again, so it's different. But that would be just as damning. I still know a lot of fine workers at HON, and I feel bad for them. Good luck!