Micron is coming to Central New York and is scheduled to receive upwards of $20B in public subsidies and tax credits from federal, state, and local governments. With this historic investment, the CNY community has been promised thousands of good jobs created by the project, but there has been little discussion or firm commitments made regarding what exactly a “good job” is, or how equitable access for said jobs will be achieved for current local residents, especially Syracusans.

We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, believe massive public subsidies must translate into real quality jobs for members of the CNY community, especially those who have been historically left out of these types of economic opportunities. Further, we define a “good job” as one that guarantees: workers’ have a fair and clear process to organize a union without employer opposition, family-sustaining wages and comprehensive benefits, safe working conditions, equitable hiring and employment practices, and is supported by an accessible workforce pipeline. To ensure the jobs created by the Micron project meet the standard of “good job” this community deserves, we call on Micron to make enforceable commitments including:

Workers’ Right to Organize a Union Without Employer Opposition

All workers deserve the opportunity to freely come together and form a union without fear of retaliation. Micron must sign a labor peace agreement in which it agrees to remain neutral if workers choose to come together and form a union, recognize and bargain with the union if a majority of the workers sign cards expressing a desire for union representation, and ensure a path to a first contract.

Family-Sustaining Wages & Comprehensive Benefits

Micron has a responsibility to pay its workers so that they and their families can thrive, and the local economy can in turn benefit from Micron’s presence. A good job is one that includes a) a family-sustaining-wage, b) comprehensive benefits, including robust medical insurance and paid time off, retirement, and assistance paying for childcare to ensure that caring for children does not become an obstacle to a good job.

Safe Working Conditions

A good job is a safe job. Micron must commit to implementing state-of-the-art health and safety protocols, engage workers in the development and implementation of robust safety and health programs including Joint Health and Safety Committee Guidance developed by the Clean Electronics Production Network, educate and train workers about the hazards of the chemicals they’ll be handling, phase out and safely substitute PFAS “forever chemicals,” replace chemicals that can cause cancer, miscarriages, fetal brain damage, or are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, and where no safer substitutes exist yet, replace inadequate “permissible exposure limits” for hazardous chemicals with strong health-protective exposure standards.

Equitable Hiring and Employment Practices

In order for the jobs Micron is creating to be truly good jobs, the work must begin before the hiring. Micron must guarantee that a meaningful percentage of new hires come from marginalized communities, particularly within the City of Syracuse, so that those who need these good jobs most have access to them. Ideally, this would occur through an enforceable community workforce agreement (CWA). Once people are in the door, it is essential that Micron foster an inclusive environment based in cultural competence, such as internal training on inclusion and implicit bias, and clear guidelines on what cultural competence looks like in practice. Over the course of their employment, workers should have opportunities for ongoing training and development, to hone their skills in a highly technical environment. To ensure these priorities also extend to jobs created by contractors engaged by Micron, the contractor selection process should be quality-based rather than price-based.

Diverse, Equitable & Inclusive Workforce with Accessible Workforce Pipeline

Micron must commit to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. If Micron wants to create truly good jobs that are accessible to all Central New Yorkers, it must support the creation of a workforce development pipeline that intentionally targets our most disadvantaged residents, focusing on census tracts with the highest concentration of poverty. Micron must also play a central role in preparing all interested local workers in the region for successful entry into meaningful advanced manufacturing careers. This includes investment in new and existing workforce development programs free of barriers to access like GED requirements, English language proficiency requirements, and discrimination against workers impacted by the criminal legal system. Micron must also invest in the expansion of available affordable childcare options in the region. Micron should partner with unions and community groups to create and institute a robust paid pre-apprenticeship program that is promoted widely by Micron within the CNY community, especially in urban and rural areas which are typically not exposed to these types of careers.

Transportation Accessibility

Micron has a responsibility to the people of CNY and its own workers to invest in transportation services and infrastructure that will support safe and reliable transportation to and from its facilities. The planned site for the Micron facility is simply not accessible by public transportation. No matter what other commitments Micron might make to hiring workers from disadvantaged communities, these jobs will not be accessible to transit-dependent people if convenient, reliable, affordable, and safe transportation is not available.

Transparency and Accountability

Micron must be transparent and accountable for its workforce development, equity, labor, occupational health and safety, and community commitments. To ensure compliance with all these commitments, Micron’s reporting should be made publicly accessible. The people of CNY deserve to know how their public funds are being spent and Micron workers deserve to know what commitments Micron has made about their jobs, including wage and benefits for each kind of job, and whether they are living up to those commitments. Micron should regularly report on their status of their compliance with plan commitments on at least a quarterly basis.

Why now? The CNY Good Jobs & Equitable Access Platform is a roadmap to success for Micron, its employees, and the community at large. Although Micron’s Central New York “megafab” is not scheduled to open until 2028, the company is securing enormous federal and state subsidies for the project – almost $2 million in public funding for each hire they make – now. Central New York has had too many experiences with private companies making promises of grandeur in exchange for hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, only to learn years later that these promises were hollow. With one of the highest poverty rates in the country, Syracusans simply cannot afford another Destiny USA. Now must also be the time that Micron, with support from local, state, and federal public officials, makes enforceable commitments to creating good jobs for Central New York residents in exchange for this historic public investment.

ALIGN
Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)
Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS)
Citizen Action of New York
CNY Solidarity Coalition
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU)
Communications Workers of America - District 1
Cooperative Federal
Energy 21
Families for Lead Freedom Now
Good Jobs First
Greater Syracuse Labor Council, AFL-CIO
IUE-CWA
JHP Industrial Supply Co
Jobs to Move America
Legal Services of Central New York
Make the Road New York
Moving People Transportation Coalition
New Americans Forum
New York Communities for Change
New York State AFL-CIO
New York State Council of Churches
Northside Futures
New York State Indivisible
SEIU 200United
Sierra Club
Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter
Strong Economy For All Coalition
Syracuse Chapter National Action Network
Syracuse Onondaga Food System Alliance (SOFSA)
Syracuse Peace Council
Teamsters Union 1149
Urban Jobs Task Force of Syracuse
VOCAL-NY
Workers Center of Central New York