CWA leader: Every semiconductor job should be union with good wage that supports families

Carl Kennebrew leads the Communications Workers of America (CWA) industrial division, IUE-CWA. He also serves on the Jobs to Move America Board and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL- CIO) Industrial Unions Council.

When President Joe Biden signed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Actinto lawlast month, he declared that the future of semiconductor chips is going to be made in America.

That future will be brighter if we ensure the jobs created are sustainable, good-paying union jobs with benefits.

By investing nearly $53 billion in U.S. semiconductor research, production and workforce development, the CHIPS Act 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.

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It is up to our lawmakers to ensure companies are held accountable to follow through on promised investments and create good jobs that attract and retain workers.

So far so good – American companies are already vowing to pour billions of dollars of additional investments into producing semiconductors domestically, bringing total business investment to nearly $150 billion since President Biden took office.

According to the White House, chip manufacturer Micron has announced a $40 billion investment which will create up to 40,000 new jobs in construction and manufacturing, and 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.

Intel has broken ground in Licking County, Ohio, for two new chip manufacturing facilities, representing a $20 billion investment. Dubbed the “Silicon Heartland,” the project is expected to create 3,000 long-term positions in manufacturing and engineering.

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While attention has been on the billions in incentives flowing toward the construction of these plants and others across the country, we must consider the long-term impact of this investment on the people in the communities where the facilities are located.

It’s imperative that we ensure that the manufacturing jobs created from this funding are living-wage, family-sustaining jobs with good benefits.

Among the provisions advocated for by our union, Communications Workers of America (CWA), including $200 million toward a dedicated workforce and education fund, the CHIPS Act 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.

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To help the president deliver on his goal to bring back good-paying manufacturing jobs and expand them here in the United States, Congress empowered the U.S. Commerce Department to make CHIPS awards to companies truly committed to high-road labor practices that protect and value their workers.

Currently, IUE-CWA, the industrial division of CWA, represents workers at onsemi, a global semiconductor firm in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, the only union-represented semiconductor manufacturing and final assembly facility in the country.

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 healthcare, and critical protections like paid sick leave and paid parental leave. Truly valuing workers means respecting their right to join together in a union.

Americans invented the semiconductor and American companies account for 48% of the world's chip sales; however, after years of offshoring, only 12% of semiconductor manufacturing actually happens in the U.S. Americans felt the effects of this disparity firsthand when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. supply chains suffered amid a semiconductor shortage.

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By allocating billions for domestic semiconductor production and research, the CHIPS Act aims to ensure this wouldn’t happen. Now it’s 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.

Carl Kennebrew leads the Communications Workers of America (CWA) industrial division, IUE-CWA. He also serves on the Jobs to Move America Board and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL- CIO) Industrial Unions Council.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: Microchip industry must respect workers' right to unionize