Micron has not engaged in “substantive negotiations” about employees who work at the planned Clay facility being unionized despite promising to do so, according to Carl Kennebrew, the president of IUE-CWA. Last April, memory chipmaker Micron Technology promised the Communications Workers of America labor union that it would meet to discuss a labor peace agreement for the company’s future semiconductor facility in Clay. Negotiations have largely not happened since then, Kennebrew said. Mark Plungy, director of corporate communications for Micron, did not respond to several requests for comment by a Central Current reporter.After Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, Micron selected Clay as the site of its next “megafab” facility — the largest expansion in the company’s history. The company has pledged to invest up to $100 billion over the next two decades to construct four plants in Clay. Micron officials and public officials, including United States Sen. Charles Schumer, have said the plant could create up 50,000 jobs in the region, including jobs outside the facility. Last month, federal officials finalized a preliminary agreement with Micron under the CHIPS and Science Act. The federal government committed to providing $6.1 billion in support for Micron’s projects. The construction of the facilities will be governed by a project labor agreement, which allows for construction workers to get collectively bargained wages, benefits, and safety protectionsBut as preparation begins for construction in Clay, union negotiations remain sedentary for the jobs created within Micron’s facilities, according to Kennebrew.After federal officials finalized the deal with Micron in December, Kennebrew chided the company in a statement responding to the announcement of the deal.“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,” Kennebrew said, “The company continues to drag its feet, failing to make any enforceable commitments to its future workforce.”In Kennebrew’s December statement, the CWA called on Micron to commit to the CNY Good Jobs & Equitable Access Platform. The document, crafted and signed onto by local organizations and individuals, outlines three promises they believe Micron must make to CNY workers: The right to organize, family-sustaining wages and benefits, and safe working conditions.“Micron has been awarded over $10 billion in public dollars from all levels of government on the promise of creating good, family-sustaining jobs, but the Central New York community deserves more than promises,” Kennebrew said. “The community deserves enforceable, transparent commitments.”New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has previously called on Micron to commit to a policy of cooperation with employees seeking to establish unions. DiNapoli also serves as a trustee for the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which controls roughly $200 million in Micron stock.When asked for comment, DiNapoli’s office directed Central Current back to DiNapoli’s letter to Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron’s chief executive officer, from June 2024.In that letter, DiNapoli contended that if Micron adopts a policy of neutrality toward its employees’ potential unionization efforts, the company could reduce the likelihood of labor disputes and work stoppages. By maintaining a cooperative relationship with its workers, DiNapoli argued, Micron can create a stable work environment while ensuring its financial performance remains sustainable.“To reaffirm Micron’s stated commitment to freedom of association and collective bargaining, I urge Micron to adopt a global policy of neutrality and non-interference and to implement this policy for all unionization efforts and elections,” DiNapoli said. “Micron’s policy should convey how it will remain neutral and not interfere in employees’ decisions about whether to join a union.”The CWA is still waiting on Micron to turn those stated commitments into concrete promises.Kennebrew charged Micron with an obligation to be a model employer in the semiconductor industry, and said the company owes it to New York state and its future workforce to sign an enforceable agreement that meets the “good job” standard stipulated in the CNY Good Jobs & Equitable Access Platform.To Kennebrew and the CWA, Micron has a responsibility to ensure that the extensive public subsidies facilitating this project eventually translate into worthwhile jobs for Central New York residents. “Workers considering careers at Micron should have the guarantee of family-sustaining wages, comprehensive benefits, safe working conditions, and a fair and clear process to organize a union without opposition,” Kennebrew said. read more of central current’s coverage Union head accuses Micron of stalling negotiations for union jobs at future Micron facilities in Clay IUE-CWA President Carl Kennebrew said Micron has stalled negotiations for union jobs at the company’s future Clay locations. by Patrick McCarthy January 10, 2025January 10, 2025 Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha to read his poetry at ArtRage: ‘Every single victim in Gaza is me’ Abu Toha will read from his book “Forest of Noise” at ArtRage Gallery on Saturday. 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