Linemen are taking a stand in North Carolina after weeks of grueling work following Hurricane Helene, demanding the pay they were promised. These essential workers, who have been at the forefront of restoring power in hard-hit Western North Carolina, initiated a strike on October 30, gathering in Asheville’s old Sears parking lot. The dispute highlights complex payment agreements and frustrating bureaucracy that have kept these crews unpaid despite their tireless contributions to recovery efforts.
The crews, brought in by Next Era Communications, include contractors from across the U.S. Next Era’s owner, Miguel Burgos, revealed that his company is working with MasTec, which itself is a contractor for Spectrum.
The payment system, unfortunately, is mired in layers, and Next Era linemen were expecting compensation for work completed between October 7 and October 13 under a “Net 14” term, which theoretically should have paid them by October 27. However, according to the workers,
MasTec has yet to process the payment, leaving the linemen without the income they had counted on.
According to accusations made online, FEMA allegedly requested that these workers forego their pay for the first week of labor to fuel the fire.
Today, FEMA said they do not pay workers directly.
The agency said, FEMA does not pay line workers directly. Electrical cooperative, private electrical or private communications and cable companies pay their employees and contractors.
In some situations, “FEMA may reimburse eligible rural electrical cooperatives providing a governmental service for expenses resulting from a disaster through Public Assistance grants, but the agency does not pay workers directly. Private for-profit companies are not eligible for Public Assistance grants.”
Without these linemen, power restoration and critical infrastructure repairs in North Carolina would likely have been significantly delayed, making their current battle for fair compensation all the more pressing.
As the strike unfolds, the case brings attention to the need for transparent, reliable payment systems for contractors who are essential to disaster recovery efforts.
