The leader of one of Arizona's largest unions fired back at TSMC's claims that unskilled American workers have delayed construction and tools installation of its new Fab 21. Aaron Butler, the head of the Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council, wrote in his column for Phoenix Business Journal that workers for Arizona have been building and equipping fabs for Intel for decades and that TSMC is using the delay as an excuse to bring in foreign workers they can pay less.
The Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council leader representing 15,000+ union construction workers refuted TSMC's claim of a skills gap in American workers for the semiconductor project. Arizona workers have built fabs for Intel for 40 years and represent a seasoned workforce that is highly skilled and prepared for this task, Butler wrote. The unions have fulfilled all the labor hours requested by TSMC, which starkly refutes TSMC's assertion that there is a deficit of skilled American workers, Butler alleges. He also claims that TSMC failed to name skills that Arizona workers allegedly lack or the specific training these Taiwanese workers will teach the American workforce.
