Building Unions Partner with Tech on AI Data Centers

Building trades unions, traditionally seen as champions of the American worker, have formed close partnerships with the world's richest tech companies to construct massive data centers fueling the U.S. artificial intelligence economy. Union members are building projects nationwide, from Pennsylvania to Arizona, while rapidly expanding apprenticeships to meet surging demand.

These unions employ workers on numerous large-scale data center developments, where construction activity accounts for significant portions of their workloads. In central Ohio, data centers represent at least 40 percent of man-hours for the Columbus-Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, according to top official Dorsey Hager. In the Washington, D.C., area, the figure reaches at least 50 percent for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26, said spokesperson Don Slaiman. North America's Building Trades Unions reported record membership and apprenticeships in 2025, with President Sean McGarvey likening the growth to the 1950s postwar boom.

The partnerships help counter community backlash over energy consumption, water use, rising utility bills and quality-of-life issues such as...