Construction Unions Back $4 Billion Westfield Data Center as 75 U.S. Projects Were Canceled
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Aug 1
Construction Unions Back $4 Billion Westfield Data Center as 75 U.S. Projects Were Canceled
3 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Aug 1
Summary
$4 billion in planned investment has made the proposed Westfield, Massachusetts, data center a flagship cause for construction unions, which say it could deliver 1,800 jobs and years of apprenticeship work.
IBEW, the United Association and North America’s Building Trades Unions are lobbying for data centers and partnering with Microsoft and OpenAI on training, arguing the projects help replenish a skilled-labor pipeline that needs 81,000 new electricians a year.
Public resistance remains intense because critics fear water strain, higher power bills and broader quality-of-life damage; Westfield has imposed a one-year moratorium on new proposals beyond Servistar Realties’ project.
That backlash has spread well beyond Westfield: Lowell and Holyoke also enacted moratoriums, Everett and Mansfield tightened limits, and Data Center Watch says 75 projects worth $130 billion were canceled in the first quarter of 2026.