Groups call for community benefits agreement to protect workers and community
Following the Department of Commerce’s announced award of $6.1 billion to Micron Technology, a coalition of Central New York groups is calling on the microchip company to make strong, enforceable commitments to the community.
CNY Good Jobs for Equitable Access, made up of labor unions, workforce development organizations, and community groups, has put forth a Good Jobs Platform signed by over 40 organizations that outlines enforceable commitments the company should make. It is also calling on Micron to negotiate a community benefits agreement (CBA) with local residents and labor groups to ensure the project benefits and protects workers, neighbors, and the environment.
“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.”
“After decades of disinvestment and false promises, Micron’s project was touted as an economic boon for Central New York, urging us to welcome it with open arms. However, today’s announcement of Micron securing billions in federal funds without any concrete, enforceable commitments related to equitable job access and quality jobs is far from reassuring,” said Tylah Worrell of Urban Jobs Task Force. “Nearly 50 community, civic, and faith organizations in our region have offered a vision to Micron and our political leaders: Firstly, implement concrete measures to ensure that those who need these jobs most—Black, Indigenous, people of color, women workers, and others facing barriers to family-supporting jobs—can access them, particularly current local residents. Secondly, ensure these jobs support families, respect worker rights, and protect health. The responsibility now falls to our state leaders who have also promised Micron billions in public funds. They should collaborate with us to make Micron’s big promises a reality through enforceable commitments, setting reasonable workforce equity goals for our residents.”
“With billions in federal and state tax dollars, Micron will no doubt drive economic development in Central New York. But will the project create the kinds of union jobs that working families here need and deserve?” asked Mark Spadafore, the President of the Greater Syracuse Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “We applaud Micron’s commitment earlier in the year to ensure that unionized construction workers will build this enormous facility and the engagement of the New York State United Teachers on STEM curriculum. But the CHIPS contract signed today does nothing to guarantee that they will respect the right of their permanent workers to organize a union, a basic precondition to ensuring good wages and working conditions. Nor has the company made any enforceable commitment to ensure genuinely equitable hiring and workforce development. For too long, our region has seen good jobs disappear or never materialize in the first place, and we have some of the highest poverty in the country for communities of color. Now we need elected officials in New York state to deliver commitments that make Micron a long-term boon for our working families.”
Jobs to Move America, a partner in the coalition with extensive experience negotiating successful CBAs, is working alongside the Central New York partners organizing for a CBA.
“The people of CNY deserve to know how public funds are being spent, and workers deserve to know what commitments Micron has made about their jobs.” said JMA’s Syracuse Organizing Manager Khadeejah Ahmad.
“That transparency will allow us to hold Micron accountable to worker health and safety, wage and benefit standards, workforce development, and community investments commitments. Micron has the choice to take the high road, and make enforceable commitments to deliver community benefits. Now that the federal government has signed off, leaders in the State of New York can and should help lead Micron down that road.”
CNY Solidarity, a member organization of the coalition, reiterates the need for Micron to make strong and enforceable commitments. “The CNY Solidarity Coalition appreciates Micron’s support for education and job training in preparation for the construction and operation of its manufacturing facility. However, for Micron to receive the $5.5 billion Excelsior Jobs Tax Credits from New York State and $6.1 billion in federal CHIPS funding, it must commit to setting goals and hiring from diverse and disadvantaged communities. Micron’s response is to “make a good faith effort” to meet these goals. Effort is not commitment. Micron must sign a legally enforceable Community Benefits Agreement to ensure that this commitment will be achieved so that the Central New York communities that have been most negatively affected by the decline of good-paying, family-sustaining manufacturing jobs will reap the benefits of Micron’s presence.”
Micron’s commitment to comply with federal and state transparency and disclosure laws is woefully insufficient, which is why Members of Congress, unions, and environmental advocates have been calling on the Commerce Department to include stronger public transparency and accountability requirements in final CHIPS contracts. Micron must be held to these standards, and be transparent and accountable to its workforce development, equity, labor, occupational health and safety, and community commitments. Without public disclosure guarantees, the CNY community will be left in the dark on how Micron spends their public funds.