--- title: Government subsidies do not lead to the creation of good-paying jobs description: The America’s Work Force Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. Greg Leroy of Good Jobs First joined us on today’s show. image: https://awf.labortools.com/hubfs/good%20jobs%20first%20red%20mic.jpg --- 1 min read Season 4, Episode 246 # Government subsidies do not lead to the creation of good-paying jobs [ awfblog ](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/author/awfblog) December 13, 2023 [Organizing](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/organizing) [America's Work Force Union Podcast](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/americas-work-force-union-podcast) [Health, Welfare, and Safety](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/health-welfare-and-safety) [Union Responsibilities](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/union-responsibilities) [Union Issues](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/tag/union-issues) ![good jobs first](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/good%20jobs%20first.jpg?width=400&height=400&name=good%20jobs%20first.jpg)   Guest Name: --- Greg Leroy Guest Website: --- [https://goodjobsfirst.org/](https://goodjobsfirst.org/)  Guest Social Media: --- [ Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/GoodJobsFirst/) [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/GoodJobsFirst) [ YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIC2ZSqkUwB_JYfb2NJ0H_Q) [ LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-jobs-first/) Supportive Documents: --- [Good Jobs First](https://goodjobsfirst.org/) 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. - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ##### SUBSCRIBE ON: --- [![Group 342](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png?width=171&name=Apple%20Podcasts%20Button-Dark.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946) [![Group 341](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AmericasWorkForce/podcast%20logos/Spotify%20Button-Dark.png?width=100&name=Spotify%20Button-Dark.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn) [![Group 343](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20343.png?width=135&name=Group%20343.png)](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast-62567752/) [![Group 339](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20339.png?width=110&name=Group%20339.png)](https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Group%20397.png?width=125&name=Group%20397.png)](https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/) [![Group 397](https://awf.labortools.com/hs-fs/hubfs/YouTube_button.png?width=125&name=YouTube_button.png)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQo1PAtRAel1_tS7-PQOkA)   #### [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat](https://awf.labortools.com/listen/brotherhood-of-railroad-signalmen-on-the-union-pacific-merger-threat) : July 6, 2026 # Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on the Union Pacific Merger Threat Brandon Elvey, Secretary-Treasurer of the [Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen](https://www.brs.org/),... 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