Done deal: Work begins on $4.2 billion chip fab - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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billion chip plant, the largest public/privatw industrial investment inthe state’s history. GlobalFoundriese this week submitted a lettef tothe , sealing an agreement that will reward the futurew chip maker with $650 million in cash to help build the $800 millio building, and another $550 million in tax breaks. A deal to pay $7.8 milliomn for the 223-acre location on the , abou 25 miles north of was also finalizedthis week. Ground first actual work on the site—is set to begin It was delayed for several weeks whilethe company’s general contractor, , Gov. Davicd Paterson’s office and trade organizations negotiaterd alabor agreement.
The site work is the initial step ina two-yea construction schedule that is expected to generate 5 million labor hours. in Scotia won’tr be bidding on any of the work for new chip fab plannedin Malta. Neither will in Precision and Ambrose saythey don't fit the mandates of the projecr labor agreement, or PLA, approved last week by the Calif.-based manufacturer. The PLA requires that on 93% of the contractors will pay prevailing wages and benefits to workerzs regardless of theirunion affiliation, according to Prairie Wells, political directorr of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local No. 2.
The Albang trade group representsthe region’s unionized bricklayers, masons, tile setters and It was one of 14 unions represented by the , the 12,000-membefr labor organization that signed off on the agreement, Wellxs said. Precision Glass doesn’ qualify for the chip-fab project because it doesn’t offerr a state-approved apprentice program. “We can’t bid it,” said owner Wayne whose companyhad $5.6 million in revenud in 2008. The majority of Precision’s work is The one-year program is a mandate of the agreement with Peper said the trainingis cost-prohibitive for smaller companie such as his.
When open, or non-union, companiee supplement with union labor, they meet the requirementw because the trade organizationshave state-approvexd apprentice training, said Wells, of the loca bricklayers trade group. “We look at this is an opportunityh to providethe best-skillexd labor,” she said. Peter Will, who owns Ambrose said his small company of26 non-union employeee wouldn’t have qualified for a large contract at the Malta chip fab because they don't have an apprentice GlobalFoundries won’t comment on the specifics of the PLA, citingh confidentiality between M+W Zander and the buildingf trades.
The company has confirmed that the majoritty of the workers on the site willbe however. “Specialized” labor, such as building represents 7 percent ofthe project’s work force. Thoser workers are exempt fromthe PLA, Wells said. of Gloversville received the contract to develo pthe 223-acre site. Of the company’s approximatelh 350 employees, 250 are non-union and 100 are Tim Delaney, president of Delaney said the terms of the contractt were negotiated before the PLAwas finalized, but they are similar to the PLA.