Breaking News! Tower Hands Speak Out About The Safe Use of Carabiners // Tailgate Newsletter

Welcome to The Tailgate, the Bi-Weekly Newsletter of the Tower Climbers Union/CWA.
Edition 3 // July 26, 2022

Español

Breaking News! Tower Hands Speak Out About The Safe Use of Carabiners

In July of 2022, an article on rigging posted online caused much hand wringing, controversy, and even threats to our jobs in the tower community. The article discussed how physics is integrated into lifting loads and also brought up the safe use of carabiners within manufacturer guidelines and ANSI standards.Here is the article.

Right after this article was published, a contractor association (that had recently released a video claiming to be the authentic voice of tower technicians) sent an email blast threatening climbers, declaring that jobs will be lost if tower technicians rig with a carabiner. The warning read as if it was written by an irate boss. It claimed that "Violation of this policy could lead to immediate job shutdown and possible suspension from future work."
Since the issuing of this threatening statement, we have received numerous outraged phone calls and messages from fellow tower climbers about this threat to our safety and livelihood. Tower technicians value safety above all else, and recognize that we need to select the best possible tool for every situation. This can include the use of carabiners under certain circumstances as a safe and more efficient tool on a job if used correctly and according to manufacturer guidelines and ANSI standards.
This type of written threat against contractors and employees is why we need a unified voice that actually comes from climbers and not large corporations. The CWA has become the voice for climbers to unify in a productive and cohesive manner. As contractor associations continue to create animosity for contractors and threaten employees' careers in the wireless industry, the CWA will prioritize unity every step of the way.

The Tower Climbers Union/CWA is run by and for Tower Climbers. It is ours. If you have had enough of being threatened, if you believe we have power when we band together, come join our union. If you aren’t already a member, here is the link to become one, and here is a link to find out more information.

Carabiners and Shackles, Take Our Survey

Do you think it’s right that you should never, ever use Carabiners? Are corporate-sponsored associations correct when they claim to really be the voice of Tower Technicians?Click here to take our survey. We will release the results soon.