U.S. cell-tower climbers move to unionize

A growing push to unionize across the US is now stretching into the cell tower business.

“The entire communications industry and its customers depend on tower climbers, and we deserve more than what we have been receiving for many years,” said Erik Messenger, a QualTek employee who voted to create a union at the company, in a release from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union. “That’s why my co-workers and I at Qualtek voted to join the Tower Climbers Union/CWA. Our union is just a start. Thousands of tower climbers are ready to rise up and band together. We are excited and proud to be part of this movement for better working conditions and improved safety.”

According to CWA, the QualTek workers in Henderson, Nevada, are the first group of tower climbers in the US to file for formal union representation.

Officials from QualTek did not immediately respond to questions from Light Reading about employees’ efforts to unionize. On Tuesday, Wireless Estimator – a publication that closely tracks the nation’s cell tower industry – reported that the company declined to answer its questions about the topic.

QualTek provides engineering, construction and maintenance services primarily to the telecom and renewable energy industries. It counts 5,000 employees across 80 locations in the US, including 1,900 “in-house” employees.

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