Founding members of the Tower Climbers Union (TCU) formed under the banner of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) held a national town hall meeting this past Sunday on International Workers’ Day. The meeting comes less than two weeks after wireless tower climbers at QualTek in Henderson, NV, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. The TCU/CWA claims several hundred founding members in 35 states.
The meeting focused on members sharing their vision for the future and developments in their efforts to improve conditions and standards in the wireless industry. Members discussed topics impacting workers including work/life balance, health and safety, industry pricing and wages, working conditions and more.
“One of the issues in our industry is the culture and the things that are taught to us young. Things like working from sunup to sundown and if you leave early you feel this guilt. There is always this saying in our industry: ‘either you have all the time and no money, or all the money and no time.’ I think it’s long past due that we stand together and we make the changes needed,” said tower climber and TCU/CWA East Coast Organizer Carl Milloy.
CWA President Chris Shelton spoke to the group and encouraged them to continue organizing and to keep fighting for what they want. “We have to get as many people as we can to fight the good fight, to make sure that these companies understand that they have to give you the respect that you deserve in a job that’s very, very hard to do,” Shelton said. “We’re trying to beat employers who really care nothing about you. Everybody knows they’re going to squeeze the companies you work for and therefore you.”
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