US trade union fights TSMC plan to use Taiwanese workers on Arizona semiconductor factory build

Among other issues, workers in Arizona want American lawmakers to deny visas for Taiwanese workers the company wants to import to speed up construction of the plant, once hailed as a symbol of President Joe Biden’s agenda to compete with China.

“TSMC announced they plan to bring more than 800 foreign workers to Arizona to operate on the North Phoenix facility,” Arizona Pipe Trades 469 said on its Votervoice.net page, a digital platform used for advocacy and organising. The trade union is based in Phoenix and represents pipe fitters and plumbers.

“Protect your union brothers and sisters, protect your pay cheque and protect American jobs!”

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The petition titled “Block TSMC Worker Visas” accuses the company of showing “a lack of respect for American workers, placing profit above worker safety and deliberately misrepresenting the quality, skills and experience of Arizona’s workforce” despite the Taiwanese chip maker receiving “large financial breaks” under the Chips and Science Act.

Since the beginning of the Biden administration, companies have announced more than US$231 billion in commitments to semiconductor and electronics investments in the US, according to a White House fact sheet published on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the bill.

Long before TSMC chip plant, Taiwan enjoyed strong support from Arizona

But a shortage of skilled workers to install advanced machinery required to manufacture high-end semiconductors has forced TSMC to postpone its production plans in the city. It had been expected to start making 5-nanometer chips in 2024 but the company has pushed that goal to 2025.

TSMC chairman Mark Liu told analysts on an earnings call last month that the company was working to send skilled technicians from Taiwan to train local workers in the US.

If allowed, these workers would work on EB-2 visas, which permit foreign professionals with “advanced degrees or exceptional abilities” to work and live in the US permanently, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

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But labour groups in the US oppose TSMC’s plan to bring in Taiwanese workers.

While demanding that elected officials “use their influence to halt the EB-2 worker visas”, the union’s petition said that “replacing Arizona’s construction workers with foreign construction workers directly contradicts the very purpose for which the Chips Act was enacted”.

The website protectazworkers.org, which is also purportedly funded by Arizona Pipe Trades 469, urges Arizona lawmakers to “stand with labour and block TSMC from replacing more than 500 American workers”, calling the labour-import plans “a slap in the face”.

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A Facebook page called IBEW 640 Brotherhood, a Phoenix-based labour group representing electrical workers, has been flooded with screenshots of “disrespectful” posts about America and American workers allegedly made on PTT, a Taiwanese online public forum.

The posts on the Facebook page – which is not run by the brotherhood – claim the social media screenshots support suggestions that TSMC wants to bring in cheap labour from Taiwan to cut costs.