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See the full story · 1 sourcesSome national labor unions are opposing AI data center bans and moratoriums in the US. Noah Berger/Getty Images via Amazon Web Services
The AI industry needs electricians, plumbers, and construction workers to build its data centers.
As a result, the tradespeople are commanding high salaries.
Some national labor unions are now siding with developers in the AI data center debate.
AI is both taking jobs and creating them.
That's led to a divide among labor unions over AI data centers. And it largely depends on the kinds of workers they represent.
The majority of the public is against AI data centers, according to polling. They worry about the environmental impacts, their strain on the electric grid, noise, or they just generally don't like the idea of artificial intelligence.
Many communities have already taken action. A dozen towns in North Carolina have implemented moratoriums, and two have permanently banned the facilities. New York became the first state to approve an AI data center moratorium in July.
Others are tightening restrictions. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott initially showed enthusiasm for building AI data centers across the state, but has more recently issued tighter restrictions on developers after backlash from residents. On Capitol Hill, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders have called for a nationwide moratorium.
AI companies, which depend on data centers to power their products, have tried to stave off such calls by promoting potential benefits like tax windfalls and job creation (at least during the construction phase ).
The jobs part is resonating with national labor unions representing electricians, plumbers, and construction workers. Unions representing workers who see AI as a threat to their jobs, however, have taken the opposite stance.
Here's where some of the largest unions stand on the issue.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
In April, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers told its 901,000 members to urge members of Congress to oppose any bills that would ban data center construction. The union provided its members with a digital toolkit that included a sample letter to send to lawmakers and instructions for social media posts.
"Such bans would eliminate critical opportunities for union workers and stunt much-needed economic growth in communities across the country," the union said. "When built responsibly, data centers mean high-quality union jobs, significant tax revenue, and long-term economic development."
The IBEW said such projects provide its members with consistent work, high wages, and career opportunities.
Don Slaiman, political coordinator of IBEW Local 26, which covers DC, Maryland, and Virginia, said in a recent op-ed in The New York Times that workers are already seeing the benefits of data center construction.
"Our apprentices' starting pay is around $28 an hour. Experienced electricians earn $62 an hour plus another $30 an hour in benefits. These are union careers, not gig work, and they're open to people who might not otherwise have a clear path into the middle class," Slaiman said.
Some people in the electrical field are earning high six-figure salaries working at data centers.
Slaiman added, "Data centers represent the best opportunity in generations for blue-collar workers to attain a portion of the American dream."
North America's Building Trades Unions
Earlier this month, North America's Building Trades Unions, which represents over 3 million workers across the US and Canada, also weighed in. NABTU President Sean McGarvey called AI data centers "critical infrastructure that underpin America's digital economy, data security, and national security."
In a press release, he applauded Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro for implementing new guardrails for data center developers without pausing or banning them entirely.
"Gov. Shapiro's approach shows that clear standards, transparency, and accountability are the right and responsible way forward to ensure communities benefit, not the blanket moratoriums imposed in other states," McGarvey said.
Laborers' International Union of North America
One day later, the Laborers' International Union of North America also praised Shapiro's decision. The union represents over 500,000 construction workers.
"Moratoriums on data center construction are not the answer," General President Brent Booker said in a press release.
United Association
United Association, a union representing around 407,000 workers in the plumbing and pipe-fitting industries, has also pushed for more data center construction.
"Data centers are the essential infrastructure of the internet and everything we take for granted in our daily lives: cellphones, social media, Uber and Lyft, Netflix, smart TVs, online banking, ChatGPT, and modern-day life as we know it," the union says in a fact sheet on data centers that's posted to its website.
The union also criticized New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone's decision to support a nationwide moratorium on new data center construction.
"For the United Association, the expansion of data centers means stable jobs and the opportunity to provide for our families," Mark McManus, the union's general president, said in a letter addressed to Pallone.
He added, "A kneejerk moratorium based on misinformation is not the common-sense answer we need."
National Nurses United
National Nurses United, meanwhile, which represents almost 225,000 workers, says it supports Sanders' push for a nationwide moratorium. The union said it would put "nurses, patients, and working people in the driver's seat."
The union's concerns are both about the impact data centers could have on communities and the wider impact of artificial intelligence on nursing jobs.
"The moratorium will give us time to build enforceable protections into law to keep ourselves, our work and our democracy safe, and autonomy to decide how and if we want A.I. to impact our live...
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