TSMC praised Arizona workers. Now it says we lack skills to finish its Phoenix factory

[excalibur]

Well of course. And all part of destroying goof paying jobs for Americans. It never ends.

In May 2020, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced it would invest $12 billion to build a semiconductor factory in north Phoenix, joining other companies like Intel in creating what some call the “semiconductor desert.”

Shortly after, thousands of Arizona construction workers went to work bringing their years of training, knowledge and experience in advanced construction processes to build the facility with a focus on safety, efficiency and quality craftsmanship.

Now, those jobs are in danger.

And it’s all being done through a legal program that allows good construction jobs to go to foreign workers — in this case from Taiwan.

TSMC said it would use Arizona workers​

Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, and President Biden signed it into law in August 2022.

The CHIPS Act provides $280 billion in funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductor facilities, with the focus on creating good-paying, high-tech jobs across the country, especially in Arizona.

In December 2022, President Joe Biden visited the TSMC job site in north Phoenix.

As president of the Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council, I was honored to accompany President Biden and TSMC executives on a tour to show how this state-of-the-art facility was being built by Arizona workers, many of whom are members of Arizona’s construction trade unions.

During our conversation, our work was praised and I was assured that TSMC’s facility will continue to be built by Arizona workers — especially its later phases, which will benefit from CHIPS Act funding.

Now it says we lack skills. That's not true​

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.

Off schedule:TSMC will delay production in Phoenix for a year

TSMC claims that Arizona workers are lacking in experience and skills, and that’s why they need temporary workers to “train” Arizona workers.

Yet, there’s been no communication with contractors about the types of training these temporary workers will provide, and how the training will be handled.

Don't let these workers take our jobs​

The truth is our workers are well-equipped and able to meet semiconductor demands right now.

The truth is our workers have built Intel for more than 20 years.

Union workers complete rigorous, multi-year apprenticeship programs that include hundreds of hours of classroom training and field experience.​

TSMC praised Arizona workers. Now it says we lack skills to finish its Phoenix factory

TSMC's Phoenix plant must be operated by American workers, but it's not required to be built by them. Now skilled workers are getting the shaft.

www.azcentral.com

 

[shockedcanadian]

Western taxpayers are suckers.

 

[JGalt]

Just one more in a long list of Dim Brandon's failures.

 

[excalibur]

Western taxpayers are suckers.

Vivek Ramaswamy says we should get into Øbama's TPP, that Trump was wrong to pull us out. He's dead to me.

 

[DudleySmith]

The idiots off-shore every skilled job possible then years later they whine that nobody wasted money training on temp jobs they off-shored and green carded as many of the domestic ones as possible. it is all self-inflicted bullshit by the managers of these companies.

So do what companies had to do for decades; train your own fucking employees like most small businesses have had to do, shit for brains. Let the stockholders cough up the costs of the businesses they claim to own.

 

[DGS49]

From the description provided, it looks like most of the work has gone to American workers, but the last part of the build will require specialized skills, and the project owner would be more comfortable using its own, experienced people to do this specialized work.

Maybe it would be easier to use people who speak the language and have already done the work successfully before, than training Americans. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

The operators of the facility will still be Americans, eh?