Washington, D.C. – January 7, 2025 – Today, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement:

“Recent news reports indicate that approximately 50% of the workers at the TSMC chips fabrication plant in Arizona have been brought in from Taiwan. News reports and TSMC’s own statements also indicate that these Taiwanese workers are being brought into the United States under the E-visa program. That is a program that should not be used for construction workers. The proper program for construction workers is the H-2B visa, under which the U.S. Department of Labor must first determine that there are not sufficient qualified U.S. workers available before a visa is issued.

“U.S. construction workers possess the skills and qualifications necessary to construct the fab plants in Arizona and across the United States. The importation of foreign labor is harmful to American workers and sets an alarming precedent that undermines the Congressional intent of investing in U.S. chips plants to provide solid middle-class jobs for U.S. workers. It is unacceptable and raises serious ethical, legal, and national security concerns.

“Misusing a visa program to import foreign construction workers also raises questions about whether these foreign workers and their employers are held to the same labor standards as U.S. workers and employers, including whether appropriate U.S. taxes are paid, whether the workers possess the proper OSHA and worker certifications, and whether their employers are complying with prevailing wage requirements associated with TSMC receiving taxpayer-funded grants to construct the plant.

“We call on Washington not to turn a blind eye to this alarming situation. The fact is there are skilled American building trades workers able to perform these jobs. Yet, the U.S. government is allowing the importation of foreign labor for construction work that can and should be done by our own American workforce. This approach is fundamentally flawed and undermines the nation’s domestic workforce priorities.

“We urge the U.S. Commerce Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the State Department to stand firm in their commitment to American workers and reevaluate their stance on TSMC to prioritize U.S. job creation for U.S. citizens. For our national security and the pathway to the middle class for the American worker, the U.S. government must require any foreign or domestic company building any project in the United States to invest in and hire a domestic workforce instead of misusing visas in a manner that jeopardizes the livelihood, security, and workforce development of our citizens.”

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Media Contact: Betsy Barrett, (202) 997-3266 | comms@nabtu.org