風蕭蕭_Frank
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工會反對台積電鳳凰城工廠引進台灣工人
南華早報 ｜2023-08-14
一個美國工人工會開始在網上請願，反對芯片製造巨頭台積電從台灣引進工人，該公司價值400億美元的鳳凰城工廠麵臨挫折。
除其他問題外，亞利桑那州的工人們希望美國立法者拒絕向該公司希望引進的台灣工人發放EB-2簽證。
亞利桑那州管道貿易469在其Votervoice.net頁麵上表示：“台積電宣布，他們計劃將800多名外國工人帶到亞利桑那州，在北鳳凰城的工廠工作。”Votervoice.net是一個用於宣傳和組織的數字平台。該工會總部設在鳳凰城，代表著管道鉗工和水管工。
“保護你的工會兄弟姐妹，保護你的薪水，保護美國的就業機會！”
這份名為“阻止台積電工人簽證”的請願書指責該公司“缺乏對美國工人的尊重，將利潤置於工人安全之上，並故意歪曲亞利桑那州勞動力的質量、技能和經驗”，盡管這家台灣芯片製造商根據《芯片與科學法案》(Chips and Science Act)獲得了“巨額財務減免”。
2020年，美國前總統唐納德·川普政府宣布了建設台積電鳳凰城工廠的計劃。
美國商務部表示，尚未宣布根據拜登簽署的《芯片與科學法案》向任何公司提供任何獎勵，該法案提供超過500億美元的補貼，以支持美國半導體研發。
周三，白宮為紀念該法案通過一周年而發布的一份情況說明書顯示，自拜登政府上任以來，美國公司已經宣布了超過2310億美元的半導體和電子產品投資承諾。
去年12月，拜登參觀了台積電在鳳凰城的工廠，在那裏他宣布“美國製造業回來了”。
但由於缺乏熟練工人來安裝製造高端半導體所需的先進機器，台積電被迫推遲了在鳳凰城的生產計劃。該公司原本預計在2024年開始生產5納米芯片，但該公司已將這一目標推遲到2025年。
台積電董事長劉德音上月在財報電話會議上對分析師表示，
該公司正努力從台灣派遣技術熟練的技術人員，培訓美國當地工人。
如果得到允許，這些工人將持EB-2簽證工作，EB-2簽證允許擁有“高等學位或特殊能力”的外國專業人士在美國永久工作和生活。
但美國勞工團體反對台積電引進台灣工人的計劃。
該工會在請願書中要求當選官員“利用他們的影響力停止發放EB-2工人簽證”，但同時表示，“用外國工人取代亞利桑那州的工人，直接違背了《芯片法案》頒布的初衷”。
據稱，也是由亞利桑那州管道貿易469資助的網站protectazworkers.org敦促亞利桑那州立法者“與勞工站在一起，阻止台積電取代500多名美國工人”，稱勞動力引進計劃是“一記耳光”。
台積電在發給《南華早報》的一份電子郵件聲明中表示，該公司正在美國打造“最先進”的半導體製造技術，目前正處於“在一個複雜的設施中處理所有最先進和專用設備的關鍵階段”。
“到目前為止，來亞利桑那州的工人人數尚未確定，但數量將非常有限，”該公司表示。
該聲明還強調，台積電“高度重視”培養當地勞動力，並仍在積極尋求從美國境內招聘員工”.
US trade union fights TSMC plan to use Taiwanese workers on Arizona semiconductor factory build
- A pipe fitters and plumbers’ group asks American lawmakers to block EB-2 visas for workers from the island
- TSMC claims number of workers coming to Arizona has not been determined, but the number will be ‘extremely limited’
Khushboo Razdan in New York 11 Aug, 2023A US workers’ union has started an online petition against chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, whose US$40 billion Phoenix plant faces setbacks.
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!”
Biden to introduce new restrictions on US investments in China, declares tech 'emergency'
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.
Plans to build the TSMC Phoenix plant were announced in 2020 under former US president Donald Trump’s administration.
The US Commerce Department said it has not yet announced any awards to any company under Biden’s signature Chips and Science Act, which offers more than US$50 billion in subsidies to support US semiconductor research and development.
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.
In December Biden visited TSMC’s factory in Phoenix, where he declared “American manufacturing is back ”.
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.
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.
Biden tours new Taiwanese chip-making plant in Arizona, fans US-China semiconductor rivalry
But labour groups in the US oppose TSMC’s plan to bring in Taiwanese workers.
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”.
In an emailed statement to the Post, TSMC said it was building the “most advanced” semiconductor manufacturing technology in the US was in a “critical phase of handling all of the most advanced and dedicated equipment in a sophisticated facility”.
“As of now, the number of workers coming to Arizona has not been determined, but the number will be extremely limited”, it said.
The statement also emphasised the “high value” TSMC places “on nurturing [the] local workforce and still actively seek to hire from within the United States”.
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.
Khushboo RazdanKhushboo Razdan is a correspondent based in New York. Before joining the Post, she worked as a multimedia journalist in Beijing and New Delhi for over a decade. She’s a graduate of Columbia Journalism School.
