Citing Radiation Hazards, IBEW Opposes Alltel/Verizon Wireless Merger
September 9, 2008
 The IBEW is objecting to a $28 billion merger between Alltel and Verizon Wireless out of ongoing concerns that workers may be exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
Verizon Wireless and Alltel employees, some of whom are Communications Workers of America members, install and repair cellular site antennas which emit high levels of “RF” – or radio frequency – radiation. Studies show that long-term exposure to this type of electromagnetic energy can promote tumor growth, particularly in a person’s central nervous system. The eyes, brain and male reproductive organs are also especially vulnerable to the radiation.
Neither Verizon Wireless nor Alltel employ IBEW members. But thousands of third-party IBEW construction workers and electricians work each year at sites that have cellular antennas. Workers are often unaware of the antennas’ presence or the dangers that they may pose.
“Our members put themselves at risk of exposure every time they step onto a worksite with cellular antennas,” IBEW Safety & Health Department Director Jim Tomaseski said.
Both companies are required by the Federal Communications Commission to protect their employees from high levels of the radiation by providing specialized training. Key factors for on-the-job safety include knowing how close a worker can get to an antenna, as well as knowing the length of time he or she can spend in a critical exposure area.
But third-party workers receive no such training. And many antennas are concealed behind fiberglass facades, disguising the danger.
In opposing the merger, the IBEW hopes the FCC will step in and require that a national safety plan be put in place that protects third-party workers from the radiation in the same ways that Alltel and Verizon Wireless workers are protected.
“Without a comprehensive RF safety system, which can be administered and verified by a neutral third party, RF overexposures will continue to pose unnecessary health risks,” IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill said in an August letter to the FCC, urging the agency to take action.
There are more than 500,000 cellular site antennas in the U.S. Tomaseski estimates that number may double within the next five years, potentially putting more workers at risk if national safeguards are not put in place.
Verizon Wireless’ proposed acquisition of smaller Alltel would make it the largest U.S. cellular carrier, with more than 80 million customers. The companies are looking to ink the deal by year’s end, pending review by the FCC and the Department of Justice, which oversees antitrust policies.
Photo used under a Creative Commons license from Flickr user Ernst Moeksis.
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