Senator Markey Encouraged at Environmental, Community, and Workforce Protections in Major CHIPS Grants

Grants includes many accountability measures in Senator Markey's recent letter to Commerce Department

Washington (November 25, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the finalized the terms of a $6.6 billion grant to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) and $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Arizona, New York and Vermont. On August 6, 2024, Senator Markey sent a letter to the Department of Commerce urging it to include strong protections for workers, nearby communities, and the environment in its final grant contracts.

"I applaud the Biden-Harris administration for hearing my call and including several critical worker and community safety provisions in these final grant agreements," said Senator Markey. "Many workers and communities have already seen the harm that the semiconductor manufacturing industry brings, including exposure to dangerous chemicals, environmental pollution, and obstruction of worker organizing. This history calls for intervention to protect the communities and workers on which the manufacturing industry will rely.

Senator Markey continued, "The TSMC and GlobalFoundries contracts take an important step towards ensuring that any public funds for the semiconductor industry come with transparency and strong assurances to protect workers, communities, and the planet from these harms. The protections in these agreements, however, must be the floor, not the ceiling. Future grant agreements must create strong good, union manufacturing jobs while going much further to create the clean, green semiconductor industry that Americans deserve."

Senator Markey has led the charge in the Senate to conduct rigorous oversight of the CHIPS and Science Act. Following his August letter and the Commerce Department's announcement of the first final CHIPS Act commercial grant agreement, Senator Markey sent a follow-up letter to the Commerce Department requesting more transparency in the final terms of the grant agreements. The recent final grant agreements from TSMC and GlobalFoundries include more transparency than past contracts and include several provisions Senator Markey specifically called for, including requiring worker health and safety committees, and stringent standards to protect communities from toxic chemicals. The provisions in the contracts did not include several key protections called for by the Senators, including commitments to provide high wages and good benefits; labor peace agreements and other policies supporting manufacturing workers' rights to organize; and sanctions should companies violate labor law.

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