Semiconductors are at the heart of every piece of electronics you interact with on a daily basis. Despite being invented and innovated in the US, much of the manufacturing of semiconductors and the technology they power was “offshored” from the 1980s through the early 2000s as part of the globalization of our economy. In an effort to counter that loss of jobs and industry, the Biden administration passed the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which reinvests over $50 billion domestically in the manufacturing and research of semiconductors in the United States. While this has started to proffer new work opportunities and industrial development in the US, workers in the industry are organizing for wall-to-wall unions in their facilities as well as better conditions for the communities that house them.
The result of that organizing is CHIPS Communities United, a coalition organizing for an equitable and sustainable semiconductor manufacturing industry. Their alliance includes labor, environmental, social justice, civil rights, and community organizations representing millions of workers and community members nationwide. Their vision is to win well-paying union jobs for all workers in semiconductor factories, to protect local environments, and to keep workers, their families, and community members safe from toxic chemicals.
This week’s guests include Rand Wilson, a CCU Organizer with more than 40 years of experience working with a number of national and local unions; Joe Turmes, a Boise, Idaho, based engineer, artist, and activist who has spent nearly 30 years in the semiconductor industry, currently at Micron; and Max (appearing pseudonymously to protect their identity), a fab tech based in Oregon currently working to unionize their workplace.
Resources From This Episode
- CHIPS Communities United
- The Semiconductor Industry is Coming to My Town—Now What? (Video Overview)
- The Million Dollar Job: What every taxpayer should know about tax breaks for Big Tech
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Episode Guests
Max is a semiconductor fab technician based in Oregon who is working to unionize their workplace and help others in the semiconductor industry organize their workplaces as well, and is speaking under a pseudonym to educate others on working conditions in the semiconductor manufacturing industry in the US.