A bitter battle over a massive AI data center in the Bay Area has taken an ugly turn as a powerful union claims its members were subjected to vile racial taunts, including the N-word, over their support for the project.
The North Coast States Carpenters Union filed a formal complaint Tuesday to the city council of Pittsburg, calling on the body to investigate and better protect people from “racial abuse, threats and intimidation.”
“This went far beyond passionate disagreement about a development project,” said Jay Bradshaw, head of the North Coast States Carpenters Union. “Black and Latino working people were racially degraded, intimidated and told to leave a public meeting because they stood up and expressed a different point of view.”
Black carpenters heard the N-word and other hateful language, the union claimed. Latino carpenters were accused of betraying their community, while other insults included a homophobic “f-word” and accusations that the carpenters were part of the Ku Klux Klan.
A 76-acre data center campus dubbed the AVAIO Perseus Data Center has sparked a revolt among locals who say the facility will suck up resources, spew diesel exhaust and cause a racket in the quiet community should it be approved.
But the union had around 25 members who supported the data center project at an Aug. 3 meeting, the group said. The boom in data center construction across the nation, powered by a thirst for AI, has created high demand for union carpenters.
Anti-data center protestors were hostile whenever union workers spoke in support and veered into outright racism, the union alleged.
The ugly incidents allegedly happened in an overflow room after the main council chambers were packed. Union representatives had directed members to give up seats and stand at the rear of the room to prevent further escalation, they said.
In its complaint, the union asked the city to preserve all recordings and evidence of the overflow room. It also asked for more police presence and protocols to ensure all sides feel safe commenting in these public meetings; not doing so may violate state civil rights law, the union alleged.
“Project opponents have every right to organize, demonstrate and vigorously criticize the data center,” Bradshaw said. “But they do not have the right to use racial hatred and intimidation against union members.”
The Post reached out to the city for comment.
There doesn’t seem to be a singular, organized entity fighting the data center but rather a gathering of hundreds of local residents infuriated about the project nearby.
Critics worry their lives could be upended by construction, noise and environmental impacts from the hulking project.
“Horrible. Horrible. I, gosh, should we move? You know, we’re really considering moving,” said Carmen Magallan, who lives across the street from the data center site, according to CBS News.
The massive project is slated to be built on a former municipal golf course that was closed in 2018, near a residential development and schools. The tech campus, from the company Avaio Digital, will have a 99 megawatt capacity to start and has been hailed as a “major investment in our local economy” by city leaders.
The opposition has even attracted national attention, such as from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who sided with data center opponents.
In that Aug. 3 meeting, the city decided to form an advisory committee on data center development to gather resident and stakeholder input on potential future projects.
“Over the last few months, we have received ongoing questions from the community surrounding data center development within our city,” said City Manager Darin Gale in a statement.
“We shared a comprehensive overview of the City’s policies, procedures, and projects on this topic. Now we have an opportunity to bring residents to the table to help shape the future of data center policy in Pittsburg,” Gale said.
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