Ada Recinos, Deputy Press Secretary, Federal Communications, ada.recinos@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Sierra Club, along with labor unions, environmental organizations, and community groups organizing under the CHIPS Communities United coalition, is urging Samsung, a designated recipient of $6.4 billion in public funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce, to legally commit to labor, environmental sustainability, and community welfare promises. Samsung must be held accountable to its stated principles to ensure that public funds allocated under the CHIPS Act benefit communities and advance sustainable practices.
Despite Samsung's acknowledgment of the importance of workers' rights and community well-being in its Global Human Rights Principles, guarantees are lacking in regions such as Austin and Taylor, Texas. Samsung has not entered into enforceable agreements with regional construction trades or signed union-neutrality agreements for its permanent workforce. Without such agreements, workers are left without guarantees that their organizing rights will be respected or that jobs will be good jobs, safe jobs. Therefore, Samsung must engage in negotiations for enforceable community benefits agreements (CBAs) with workers and residents in Austin and Taylor. Commitments crafted in CBAs and in negotiation with the US Department of Commerce must go beyond workforce concerns.
“Investments in semiconductor production must be aligned with the goals of the transition to clean energy, a healthy environment, and benefits for local communities,” said Cyrus Reed, PhD, Conservation Director of Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter. “Samsung’s mammoth Taylor, Texas operation is an energy and water glutton. In considering the multi-billion dollar subsidy, the U.S. Department of Commerce must hold Samsung accountable to conserve and reuse Texas’s precious water resources, eliminate contamination, reduce energy use through efficient cooling, energy storage, and onsite solar, and rely on 100% additional renewable electricity from the grid for the remainder of their energy needs.”
Due to President Biden’s implementation of the CHIPS Law, Samsung expects to invest more than $40 billion in domestic chipmaking, with Texas at its very heart,” said Harry Manin, Deputy Legislative Director of Industrial Policy & Trade at Sierra Club. "This is a huge opportunity to root innovation and the building blocks of the clean energy supply chain in the nation’s largest producer of oil and gas. For the latent potential for economic transformation and climate leadership to be fully realized, Sierra Club looks to Secretary Raimondo to demand that Samsung etch in stone promises of powering facilities with 100% clean electricity."
Background
Despite Samsung's professed commitment to workplace health and safety, the company has a record of environmental and safety violations both domestically and globally. Recent incidents, including a crane boom collapse at the Taylor construction site and a significant acid spill at the Austin facility, underscore the urgent need for enhanced safety measures. Reports from Vietnam reveal a pattern of neglecting health and safety concerns, with Samsung failing to disclose toxic pollution at its Hanoi facility for years, endangering workers and the public. Hundreds of factory workers at Samsung's manufacturing facilities in South Korea have developed cancer due to exposure to hazardous chemicals during production.
Samsung's environmental performance also falls short, as indicated by a 2023 Greenpeace report ranking it lowest among semiconductor manufacturers in terms of climate commitments and renewable energy usage. Additionally, Samsung's involvement in expanding Texas's polluting gas export industry exacerbates local community harm, contributes to climate change, and increases domestic energy prices.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.