IFPTE President Biggs Calls for Worker-Centered Workforce Development and Domestic Recruitment for Semiconductor Industry in CHIPS Communities United Press Statement

In response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s announcement of a multi-billion dollar federal investment in U.S. advanced semiconductor manufacturing for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), IFPTE President Matthew Biggs and the coalition partners in CHIPS Communities United (CCU) called for TSMC to follow responsible labor, environmental, and community practices.

In particular, President Biggs noted that, “For these investments to truly succeed in reestablishing leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., we need enforceable commitments from TSMC on worker-centered workforce development and domestic recruitment that empowers workers, lifts labor and occupational safety standards, creates good union jobs, and promotes equity. Labor unions and the community support the creation of these jobs and the building of the domestic chips manufacturing industry, but we need to be key partners in ensuring we have a workforce that makes this industry globally competitive."

The CCU statement also quotes UAW President Shawn Fain saying, “The federal government should not be in the business of subsidizing low-road corporations in the auto supply chain. For the workers who will make these chips, we demand a decent standard of living and a voice on and off the job.” 

Read the CCU statement with remarks by President Biggs, President Fain, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous, Arizona Jobs with Justice chair Steve Valencia, Safe Jobs Healthy Families founder Mandy Hawes, and Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador Professor Josh Lepawsky.