Column: data centers -- it's not simple

I’m not going to criticize union workers on data-center job sites.

It may seem contradictory for an opinion column to fail to weigh in on a controversial matter, but when it comes to those who are building data centers, I can’t judge those workers. Accepting a job lasting months and paying union wages is not like distinguishing right from wrong.

It’s not that simple.

It’s not like commenting on an employer breaking the law or politicians maneuvering to keep voters from casting ballots, or crossing a picket line.

Unionists can (and often do) disagree on issues ranging from strategies to structures. But what we have in common is far stronger – and more important – than making some mark in the sand on what type of product or service is OK. It’s almost impossible to meet everyone’s approval.

Further, if a new car is a lemon, the appropriate response is not to attack the UAW, but to demand manufacturers and their engineers address the problem.

Also, of course, there’s the Gospel lesson where Luke reports Jesus’ warning (6:37), “…Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.”

The current needless, maybe contrived, division was summarized in a Politico headline: “Voters fear AI. Unions want the jobs.”

North America's Building Trades Unions reasonably protect good jobs building data centers, and the Census Bureau estimates that data centers account of 2.3% of all construction spending (which means that 97.7% is in other projects – and it’s not like they’re erecting concentration camps for union organizers.)

True, other unions, including the American Association of University Professors, leaders of CWA’s Association of Flight Attendants, and National Nurses United,, advocate a pause in the rapid buildout, as do  some union Locals, such as UNITE HERE Locals in Philadelphia and Seattle, CWA Locals in New Jersey, and UAW Local 4121 in Seattle. Also, SAG-AFTRA and the NewsGuild, have grave concerns about Artificial Intelligence generally.

In June, AFL-CIO convention delegates adopted a resolution calling for additional guardrails for AI in the workplace, including intellectual property protections and transparency initiatives for when the technology was used in hiring, but also demanding that data-center construction be built with union labor and that tech companies pay their share of energy and water costs.

Maybe more importantly, 71% of the American public opposes the construction of AI data centers in their communities, according to a Gallup poll. That opposition is Republican and Democrat, rural and urban, and all regions of the country – although most data centers are in the South (about 750) and the Midwest (some 400), according to Pew Research.

Americans are worried about the effects on utility bills, water consumption, noise, tax subsidies, property-rights issues, Non-Disclosure Agreements some developers require, and the fear that AI eventually will eliminate jobs. (Dario Amodel, CEO of the AI giant Anthropic, has said AI will probably eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobs in the next five years and cause unemployment to rise – up to 20%.

Unions share such concerns.

“This should not be framed as one group of unions against another,” said Dan McConnell, business manager of the Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Council, who favors enforceable standards. He told “Obey in Advance” author Ginny Hogan of the Labor Politics Substack site, “Strong rules do not block good projects. They help us identify which projects are actually good.”

Politically, hundreds of proposed data centers have been paused or rejected beforehand.

In Illinois – which has attracted billions of dollars in data-center investments in the last five years and already has about 200 data centers – Gov. Pritzker says he opposes “hyperscale” data centers and wants all data centers to pay their fair share, and this summer he took away their tax-credit incentives. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to pause new data center approvals and halt connection studies until thorough audits are done.

Another 71% figure should be considered: That’s the percentage of Americans who approve of labor unions, Gallup reported last month (when a record-high 47% said they wanted unions to have more influence). Could unions building something people oppose alienate our friends and supporters in our communities?

The real dispute may be not who could lose, but who’s winning in the long term, and it’s not well-paid skilled union labor. In Florida, generations of residents are in “an uproar over data centers,” according to the Orlando Sentinel, which editorialized  that “the data center industry is only one face of an arrogant oligarchy that people believe now runs Congress, the courts, the White House, state legislatures and local governments. The oligarchy prospers even when the people don’t.”

For me, it’s far better to stress worker solidarity despite temporary, if conflicting, priorities. Any “schism” will hurt all working people, once more victims of a divide-and-conquer tactic. Unionists eventually need each other, and I won’t scorn union workers building data centers.

Returning to the Gospels, Luke (6:41) records another colorful caution from Jesus: “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”