The CHIPS Act was hailed as bringing the vitally important semiconductor industry to the United States. Part of the benefit sold to taxpayers footing the bill on this $50 billion+ investment was that it would create jobs for Americans. While that sounds like a good bargain, the industries gaining tax credits and Federal grants have started singing the old “labor shortage” tune. That song never fails to have the same chorus of “needing” to import more foreign labor. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which is constructing a plant in Arizona with up to $15 billion in American taxpayer support, is seeking to import Taiwanese workers because of a supposed labor shortage in Arizona.
Fortunately, Arizona workers are fighting back. From the Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council President:
“But there’s a loophole in the CHIPS Act. The language of the CHIPS Act ensures that these projects will be operated by American workers, but it does not require that the facilities will be built by American workers. Last month, TSMC announced that it is bringing more than 500 Taiwanese construction workers to build the facilities. They are justifying this request by claiming that somehow Arizona workers lack the training, skills and experience needed to build the facility. It’s simply not true.”
Could it be that employers are lying about a labor shortage to import cheaper foreign labor? Arizona workers answer in the affirmative:
“While TSMC claims that these temporary workers will not replace American workers on the job, contractors and workers are being “descoped,” which is construction-speak for fired. TSMC claims that Arizona workers are lacking in experience and skills, and that’s why they need temporary workers to “train” Arizona workers.
The truth is our workers are well-equipped and able to meet semiconductor construction demands right now. The truth is our workers have built Intel for over 20 years. Union workers complete rigorous multiyear apprenticeship programs that include hundreds of hours of classroom training and field experience. The truth is that the unions I represent have supplied all of the work hours TSMC has requested, which directly contradicts TSMC’s framing of this issue as a lack of skilled American workers. TSMC has also not informed us of skills our workers are allegedly lacking or what training these Taiwanese workers will provide to our workers.
This leaves just one alternative conclusion: that TSMC is blaming its construction delays on American workers and using that as an excuse to bring in foreign workers who they can pay less.”
And this is not unique to American workers in Arizona. This type of labor shortage nonsense is happening across the country. The American tech sector is laying off tens of thousands of American workers and discriminating against Americans in their hiring practices, while simultaneously demanding more immigration because of a “labor shortage.” The agricultural sector is paying low wages (and committing wage theft of the miniscule wages) and committing mountains of immigration violations (including forced labor and wage suppression conspiracies) while saying Americans don’t want to work in their industry.
In this particular case it is all the more egregious because American taxpayers are heavily investing in the construction of these semiconductor plants, and this investment was promised to help struggling American workers. Our immigration system should not be used as a further subsidy to boost the profits of employers at the expense of the American workers who fund the system. President Biden needs to walk the walk of being pro-worker and stop these companies that take billions from American taxpayers while ignoring them in the hiring process.
JARED CULVER is a Legal Analyst for NumbersUSA
