1 min read

Season 4, Episode 246

Government subsidies do not lead to the creation of good-paying jobs

good jobs first

 

Guest Name:


Greg Leroy

Guest Website:


https://goodjobsfirst.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


Good Jobs First Executive Director Greg LeRoy appeared on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and talked about how government tax subsidies often lead to the creation of low-quality jobs instead of good-paying union jobs. He also shed light on why datacenters do not benefit communities like people may think.  

LeRoy explained how federal, state and local governments are spending a large amount of money, upwards of $95 billion each year by his calculations and giving it to corporations as subsidies to create jobs. However, the jobs created by these companies are not good, union jobs that ensure workers earn a decent living. In many cases, the tax abatements do not contain language to force the companies to create jobs that meet certain wage requirements such as full-time employment, inclusive workforce development or pre-apprenticeship programs. Instead of good careers, these companies are only creating low-quality jobs.

For more than 25 years, Good Jobs First has worked to educate the public on how public funding is spent and how such actions hurt Americans. They now have a subsidy tracker on their website to better educate the public and politicians about who is applying for this funding and to expose corporate control of tax dollars. 

LeRoy also noted that AI-based datacenters are popping up across the country, but there is little knowledge of what companies are receiving public funds. While the building trades benefit from these projects through Project Labor Agreements or Community Benefits Agreements, the full-time workers hired to operate these datacenters make less than advertised. He alleged that datacenter operators rarely hire women or minorities and very few of these jobs are union.

For more information on this subject, listen to the podcast:


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

SUBSCRIBE ON:

Group 342

Group 341

Group 343

Group 339

Group 397

Group 397

 

Alliance for Retired Americans discuss Social Security Fairness Act

Rich Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to shed light on the...

Read More

Apprentices highlight UNITE HERE's Culinary Apprenticeship program

Andrew Pitts and a trio of apprentices from UNITE HERE Chicago Hospitality Institute (UHCHI), joined America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss...

Read More

Grassroots efforts and strategic planning the path forward for unions

President of the North Coast Area Labor Federation, Pat Gallagher joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Social Security...

Read More