Communications Workers of America to Michigan Broadband Office: “We Want Broadband Done Right”

Union representing over 5,000 workers across Michigan calls on state to prioritize its skilled local workforce over subcontractors in upcoming broadband expansion plans

MICHIGAN— The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has launched a powerful television ad in Michigan, encouraging the state to ensure that the over $1.5 billion in federal funding it is receiving for high-speed broadband goes to companies committed to quality, safety, and hiring locally.

“Michigan is receiving hundreds of millions in federal funding so everyone can get reliable internet service,” says James Dennis in the ad, a CWA member and broadband technician based in Southfield. “The Michigan broadband office can make sure it's done right by only working with dependable companies committed to hiring highly-trained local workers.”

An estimated 212,000 households across Michigan currently lack high-speed internet, but President Biden’s Internet for All Initiative, the historic federal investment included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, will change that.

It also makes Michigan poised for a boom in job creation, and with that comes fly-by-night contractors from out of state looking to make a quick buck who, as the ad warns, “aren’t invested in a quality network for Michigan.”

In order to ensure buildout and deployment is done safely, correctly, and transparently, funding must go towards internet service providers that have strong training and safety programs, provide high quality wages and benefits, and have proactive practices to ensure compliance with state and federal safety, labor, and civil rights laws.

“With this historic funding, Michigan has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only bring reliable internet service to thousands of residents, but to create good, local jobs in the process,” said Linda L. Hinton, Vice President of CWA District 4. “Now is not the time to rely on low-road contractors that lack adequate safety training, which puts the state at risk for the buildout to be done haphazardly. Michigan needs to use these public dollars to hire a well-trained, local workforce to ensure broadband is deployed equitably, safely, and properly so it can provide Michiganders with reliable service for generations to come.”

In order to meet these goals, CWA is asking that Michigan’s broadband office and state leaders establish the strongest possible labor standards for funded projects and rigorously evaluate the technical capabilities and track records of the internet service providers who apply. CWA is also calling on Michigan to prioritize applicants that will use a directly employed workforce and require program participants to provide regular reports on the use of subcontractors, an imperative step for transparency and accountability.

Closing the digital divide has long been a priority for CWA members. Universal service, once the guiding principle for American telecommunications companies, has been eroded by decades of deregulation and the transition from telephone technology to broadband internet. This has resulted in a digital divide that has left thousands of Michiganders without the service they need to remain connected in the 21st century.

CWA members in Michigan and beyond are working with and advising policy makers on quality, safety, and labor standards that will ensure communities reap both the technological and economic benefits of this once-in-a-lifetime investment for decades to come.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion