CWA Calls on Micron to Adopt Good Jobs Platform Amid Semiconductor Company’s $6.1 Billion Award in CHIPS Act Funding

Updated 12/11/24 at 12:10 PM to correct the amount of the award.

NATIONWIDE – In response to news that the Commerce Department has awarded Micron $6.1 billion in funding from the CHIPS and Science Act, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is calling on Micron to adopt the Central New York Good Jobs & Equitable Access Platform and negotiate a labor peace agreement as part of its plans to expand its facilities in the U.S. Although Micron promised to meet with CWA to discuss a labor peace agreement as part of the preliminary funding announcement in April, the company has not yet engaged in substantial negotiations with the union.

“While Micron has been awarded over $6.1 billion in federal funds, this historic investment is only as good as the jobs it creates. Rather than engage in meaningful dialogue in good faith with the goal of bringing thousands of permanent, good-paying, community-sustaining jobs to New York, Micron continues to drag its feet, failing to make any enforceable commitments to its future workforce,” said Carl Kennebrew, President of IUE-CWA, the industrial division of the Communications Workers of America. “Workers considering careers at Micron should have the guarantee of family-sustaining wages and comprehensive benefits, safe working conditions, and a fair and clear process to organize a union without opposition. Micron not only has an opportunity to be a model employer in the semiconductor industry that will attract and retain the workforce needed to keep the company competitive, but an obligation. Micron owes it to New York, and its future workforce, to step up to the plate and make a commitment that it will prioritize the creation of good jobs.”

In addition to Micron falling short of the demands laid out by the Central New York community in the CNY Good Jobs & Equitable Access Platform, the Department of Commerce is failing to meet the standards set by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order on Investing in America and American Workers and Good Jobs Principles by awarding Micron and other semiconductor companies billions of dollars in federal funding under the CHIPS Act without enforceable labor and environmental standards or public reporting requirements.

In order to ensure that the manufacturing facilities created through the CHIPS Act have a positive impact on the communities where they are situated, CWA is calling for these contracts to:

• Set specific requirements for job creation and retention, wages, training, and safety with robust public reporting on those measures to ensure that these funds create the good jobs that are intended.
• Be enforced through strong non-compliance language and clawback provisions should companies violate federal law or fall short on honoring their commitments.
• Require that production workers have a free and fair opportunity to join a union. Union membership gives workers a seat at the table to set high standards for these facilities and provides an additional layer of transparency into how these standards are being implemented on the factory floor.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.