If you’re new to CCU, welcome to our community. If you’re an old friend, welcome back.
This week, the newsletter features good news. Read on for ten things to celebrate.
Thanks for being part of our community.
Judith
- 1. CHIPS Communities United joined our amazing partners Policy Matters Ohio in May to hold a summit on Reimagining the Silicon Heartland at the Ohio statehouse. Read more about it here. And this week, we’ll be teaming up with Meyer Memorial Trust and the powerhouse Portland Jobs with Justice to host the Toxic Roots of the SIlicon Forest: People, Power, and Pollution in the Semiconductor Industry. Hope to see you there!
- 2. We’re coming to Boise! CCU’s strategic advisor, Rand Wilson, will be speaking tonight (June 2nd) from 7 to 9pm at the Idaho Outdoor Association, 3401 S. Brazil Street. If tonight won’t work for you, you can connect with Rand at rand@chipscommunitiesunited.org to talk about building a coalition of workers and community members to ensure Micron lives up to its promises.
- 3. The New York legislature has passed the PFAS Discharge Act. Thanks to everyone who called, wrote emails, or talked to their lawmaker about this important bill to reduce the flow of PFAS from industrial polluters like semiconductor companies. Now we need to keep up the pressure to get the governor to sign it.
- 4. Samsung workers (in Korea) won a huge victory. They forced the company to share 10.5% of its profits with employees, which will mean bonuses in 2026 of about $400,000 per worker. Wow. Talk about the union advantage! Now TSMC employees want the same deal.
- 5. Neighbors in Indiana can proceed with their lawsuit. Residents of West Lafayette are trying to overturn a zoning decision by the city allowing construction of a massive SK hynix semiconductor factory adjacent to schools, parks, and homes. A judge has ruled that they have standing, so they’ll go ahead with their case.
- 6. Speaking of the law, 3M, which polluted the groundwater of over 170,000 Minnesotans by dumping toxic PFAS chemicals, now faces another lawsuit, claiming the company hasn’t done enough to clean up the ground water and prevent future pollution.
- 7. We need all the lawyers we can get! Are you a worker or union leader looking for a lawyer to address unfair labor practices or other workplace problems in chip facilities or data centers? CCU has a friendly lawyer who could support plaintiffs in: wage-hour cases (e.g., large-scale misclassification of workers as independent contractors who are actually employees in order to prevent paying overtime), false claims (aka whistleblower, qui tam, if insiders have evidence of graft or corruption), and law and organizing (where investigation and litigation help build organizations). Reach out to me if you’re interested, and I’ll connect you.
- 8. Our partners in Taiwan have released a report about TSMC’s climate impact. Okay, this isn’t good news, but it’s a great report!
- Resources for data center fights. On June 10, our friend Boxi Wu will be presenting their research mapping the data center industry. Learn more here.
- 10. The backlash against AI is looking like a populist uprising. Sign us up.
See you soon!
