California data center war takes vile turn as racist slurs fly at powerful union

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 pres...