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The Washington Examiner says Meta has cut a national deal with North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) to use union labor for its AI data centers. That would be big news if true. Trouble is, the paper trail doesn’t back up the bold claim. Meta has announced a major training fund, and NABTU has inked deals with other tech firms — but a joint, company‑level MOU between Meta and NABTU has not been posted for the public to see.
What Meta says it actually announced
Meta rolled out something called the “Future Is For Everyone” fund and its America’s Workforce Academy. Meta’s leaders, including Dina Powell McCormick, have talked up paid training, apprenticeships, and guaranteed job offers for people who finish Meta’s programs. Meta lists a few named partners for the effort, like community groups and contractors. Noticeably absent from Meta’s own materials is any clear, published agreement that makes NABTU a national signatory to all Meta data‑center construction.
NABTU deals exist — just not with Meta, on paper
NABTU and its president Sean McGarvey have been busy signing MOUs with other big tech projects. Microsoft has a nationwide training pact with NABTU, and NABTU publicly announced a project labor deal for the OpenAI/Oracle “Stargate” data‑center campus in Michigan. That shows NABTU is serious about data‑center work. But seriousness is not the same as a signed national contract with Meta. If such a document exists, it should be shown. Otherwise we’re left quoting press lines and not looking at the contract that matters.
Why conservatives and taxpayers should care
These deals matter because project labor agreements and MOUs change how projects are run. They affect wages, who gets hired, local contractors, and how much taxpayers and customers ultimately pay. A national deal between a trillion‑dollar tech giant and a union bloc would be a major shift in how private infrastructure gets built. Conservatives should ask whether this is sound business, union favoritism, or a new model of corporate‑labor coziness — and demand the documents to tell the difference.
Ask the simple questions and get real answers
Meta and NABTU owe the public clarity. Produce the MOU if it exists. Say whether the deal covers every Meta data center, only certain projects, or merely funds training programs. Explain who will enforce hiring rules and who pays for it all. Until then, take the breathless headlines with a grain of skepticism. Workers deserve real jobs and communities deserve real transparency — not press releases dressed up as binding promises.
