Provides protections for telecommunications tower technicians, including requiring certain trainings during work hours without a loss of pay; requires certain reporting by bidders for telecommunication contracts.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2709
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 22, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. MAY, BRISPORT, FERNANDEZ, GOUNARDES, HARCKHAM, JACK-
SON, PALUMBO, RAMOS, SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to providing protections for
telecommunications tower technicians
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative intent. Installation and maintenance of tele-
2 communications equipment on towers is sensitive work that requires dili-
3 gent consideration of safety concerns. Tower climbing is an essential
4 yet dangerous job - between 2003 and 2022, 166 workers in the cell tower
5 industry died on the job - but there are few regulations and safety
6 standards in place.
7 Additionally, the existence of multi-layered employment structures in
8 the industry can weaken employer accountability for ensuring safe condi-
9 tions, impacting both workers and the public.
10 The work tower technicians perform ensures New Yorkers have access to
11 reliable and convenient cell service that is essential to daily life, as
12 well as reliable 911 services. Many of these towers are state assets or
13 on state-owned land. New York state has a proprietary and economic
14 interest in ensuring that its property is properly maintained and safe-
15 guarded, that equipment installed on state property does not cause any
16 undue risk to property or livelihood.
17 § 2. The labor law is amended by adding a new article 21-C to read as
18 follows:
19 ARTICLE 21-C
20 TOWER TECHNICIAN PROTECTIONS
21 Section 795. Definitions.
22 795-a. Tower technician protections.
23 795-b. Severability.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07127-01-5
S. 2709 2
1 § 795. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
2 terms shall have the following meanings:
3 1. "Bidder" means any individual, business, vendor or other legal
4 entity, or any employee, agent, consultant or person acting on behalf
5 thereof, that submits a bid in response to a solicitation.
6 2. "Telecommunications tower" means any freestanding tower, monopole
7 or similar structure or facility used for the provision of wireless
8 services including ancillary telecommunications equipment required to
9 integrate such structure or facility into an existing or proposed wire-
10 less network.
11 3. "Tower technician" means any telecommunications professional who
12 installs, repairs, and maintains telecommunications towers and equip-
13 ment.
14 4. "Contractor" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
15 association, company, organization or other entity, including a
16 construction manager, general or prime contractor, joint venture, or any
17 combination thereof, which enters into a construction contract with an
18 owner.
19 5. "Subcontractor" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
20 company, association, organization or other entity, or any combination
21 thereof, which is a party to a contract with a contractor, and/or party
22 to a contract with the contractor's subcontractors at any tier to
23 perform any portion of work within the scope of the contractor's tower
24 services contract with the owner, including where the subcontractor has
25 no direct privity of contract with the contractor.
26 6. "Procurement contract" means any written agreement entered into by
27 a state agency for the acquisition of goods, services, or construction.
28 7. "Tower services" means any work performed by a tower technician, or
29 licensing agreements regarding the use of state-owned telecommunications
30 towers.
31 8. "OSHA" means the federal occupational safety and health adminis-
32 tration.
33 § 795-a. Tower technician protections. 1. For any procurement
34 contracts for tower services entered into by New York state, or any
35 agency, department, division, bureau, office, or other subdivision ther-
36 eof and a private entity, the requirements of this section shall be met.
37 2. (a) Tower technicians employed by a bidder and all its contractors
38 and/or subcontractors shall be provided the following trainings during
39 work hours and without suffering a loss of pay, by a bona fide source,
40 including but not limited to:
41 (i) OSHA's 1926 standards training for construction course;
42 (ii) In-person first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation;
43 (iii) Radiofrequency radiation awareness;
44 (iv) The globally harmonized system for classification of chemicals;
45 (v) OSHA's standards for protections against bloodborne pathogens;
46 (vi) An authorized or competent climber course;
47 (vii) An authorized or competent rescuer course;
48 (viii) A competent rigger or qualified person course;
49 (ix) A capstan hoist operator course;
50 (x) A signal person course; and
51 (xi) A mobile elevated work platform course.
52 (b) All trainings under paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall, wher-
53 ever possible, meet or exceed OSHA safety standards or be OSHA certi-
54 fied.
S. 2709 3
1 3. A bidder shall submit with its bid a list of all contractors and
2 subcontractors, that includes the following information for each such
3 contractor and subcontractor:
4 (a) The bidder's name, state and federal tax identification numbers,
5 state contractor's license number, license category, and license expira-
6 tion date scope, and the duration and location of work to be performed;
7 (b) Confirmation that the bidder's employees, or the employees of the
8 relevant contractor, subcontractor, or agent have the required certif-
9 ications, trainings and licenses, specifying the contractor, subcontrac-
10 tor, or agent if applicable;
11 (c) A list of job titles and wages for all tower technicians;
12 (d) Whether such tower technicians are directly employed; and
13 (e) Any previous and pending enforcement actions resulting from
14 violations of state or federal labor law, along with any penalties paid,
15 criminal convictions, or judgments related to the provisions of New York
16 state labor and employment laws, the federal labor standards act, and
17 the occupational safety and health act.
18 4. Any information provided by a bidder shall be subject to the free-
19 dom of information law under article six of the public officers law.
20 5. A bidder shall, on a yearly basis, provide the information in this
21 section to the comptroller and the department, separate from the appli-
22 cation process.
23 6. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights,
24 privileges, or remedies of any employee under any collective bargaining
25 agreement to the contrary.
26 § 795-b. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision
27 or section of this article shall be adjudged by any court of competent
28 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
29 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
30 to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision or section thereof
31 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have
32 been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature
33 that this article would have been enacted even if such invalid
34 provisions had not been included herein.
35 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
