Tower Climbing Legislation and Industry Slow Downs

Happy New Year! In 2024, we're changing the tower climbing industry through legislation.

As we enter the New Year it is an exciting time for the TowerClimbersUnited. We have learned and accomplished a lot these past two years. No matter how we view our past experiences, or our future endeavors, one factor will always be constant. Our movement will always be about the climbers, for the climbers, and by the climbers.

Our Movement has pivoted and restructured so that we can maximize opportunities for changes in Safety Regulations, Wages, Benefits, and working conditions through changes in legislation, as well as public relations and media pressure. This is not to say that our dreams of collective bargaining and Union membership are over. Far from it. Where opportunities exist to build real power through collective bargaining we will pounce, and when the deck is stacked against workers, we will use alternate methods to protect and support each other.

The Carriers will try to ignore us! The Tower Owners will attempt to hide from us! The Employers will fight us! There will be ridicule from the profiteers who want everything to stay the same! Undoubtedly there will be second guessing from the “Peanut Gallery.” All of them trying to hold down Climbers wages and rights while getting rich on our Shoulders. We cannot and will not be distracted.

TowerClimbersUnited along with the Communications Workers of America will continue to fight in whatever arena is necessary, to bring attention to the inequities of this industry. We can love our jobs and still advocate for our fair share. We can be loyal to our company and our movement. Carriers can provide great service and provide for Climbers. These concepts are not in conflict with each other, nor are they new. The Carriers are overwhelmingly unionized on the wireline side of their business and are wildly profitable. It is time for us to come together and demand the same.

Join our movement, and become the change we deserve!

Impacted by the slow season?

The workload throughout the wireless telecom industry has been unhurried to say the least. Many contractors throughout the country have had to lay-off at least a few workers, or even have had to close offices due to lack of work in 2023. Some of these closings are temporary, but some seem permanent. It boggles the mind to think that the wireless construction field is an 11.3-billion-dollar (IBIS world) industry, yet still work has been hard to come by for many of us.

For climbers like us, this is a tough pill to swallow, as all our job certifications and requirements don’t readily translate to any other field. Most of us don’t want to pick up and start over in a new trade, yet I am hearing more and more Climbers doing just that. I personally don’t want to leave this field. Even with all the systemic issues we have as workers, I still love the job. I am using this slow period in our industry, to work with TCU/CWA to shed light on the industry issues, and to lobby for legislation and regulation changes that will hopefully create more work and jobs for us, as well as protect the health and safety of climbers.

Ryan Dupal
Tower Hand, Tower Climbers United