When President Joe Biden signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act into law in August, he took a major step towards revitalizing the future of manufacturing in America. That future is looking bright for New York, which is poised to become home to one of the largest semiconductor-fabrication facilities in the nation after Micron, a leading microchip manufacturer, pledged to invest up to $100 billion to build a campus in Clay.
But in order for the state of New York to truly benefit from the CHIPS Act, we need to ensure its funding goes towards creating good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs for the people of upstate.
This historic investment of nearly $53 billion in U.S. semiconductor research, production and workforce development promises to drive opportunity and equity for Americans by creating tens of thousands of construction jobs, and thousands more manufacturing jobs, in addition to strengthening our supply chain. It’s up to our lawmakers to ensure that companies awarded these funds follow through on promised investments and create good jobs that protect and value workers.
American companies such as Micron, IBM and Intel are already vowing to pour billions of their own dollars into producing semiconductors domestically. In New York, Micron’s project is projected to bring up to 50,000 jobs to the state. IBM’s promise to invest an additional $20 billion in its Poughkeepsie plant was hailed by Biden as a move that could place the Hudson Valley at the very center of the future of quantum computing. Additionally, major players Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries are announcing a new partnership that includes a $4.2 billion investment to expand GlobalFoundries’ upstate New York manufacturing facility.
Supplementing federal funding, state legislators are committing to make New York attractive for these companies to invest in. Micron will receive state and local incentives tied to investment and job creation, including up to $5.5 billion in potential state tax credits. In addition, the state is pledging $100 million to a community benefit fund.
For New York taxpayers in these communities to truly reap the rewards from this American manufacturing revival, Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislators must also ensure that Micron fills those future jobs with highly skilled union workers trained to produce the highest-quality products possible.
New York already failed on this count once — with Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in Buffalo. Tesla’s agreement with the state required the company to have a certain number of jobs in Buffalo, but did not hold the company accountable to the types of jobs offered or how much they pay.
Among the provisions in the CHIPS Act advocated for by our union, Communications Workers of America , is $200 million towards a dedicated workforce and education fund.
The CHIPS Act also includes key protections that require companies to demonstrate significant worker and community investments, ensuring the semiconductor incentives support equitable economic growth and development through sustainable, competitive jobs.
Currently, IUE-CWA , the Industrial Division of CWA, represents workers at global semiconductor firm onsemi in Mountain Top, Pa., the only union-represented semiconductor manufacturing and final-assembly facility in the country.
But every job in the semiconductor manufacturing industry should be a good union job that allows workers to not just survive, but also support their families with good wages, affordable health care, and critical protections like paid sick leave and paid parental leave.
Already, Micron’s new New York and Idaho factories are expected to raise the portion of the company’s production in the U.S. to 40 percent from 10 percent in about 10 years.
Now is the time for U.S.-based semiconductor giants to invest in American workers and ensure they and their communities reap the benefits of this historic bill, too.
Dennis Trainor is vice president of the Communications Workers of America District 1.