Verizon loses bid to change wage rules for broadband workers

When the Bureau of Labor Law Compliance issued prevailing wage determinations for those projects, it classified the work under the electric lineman category. Verizon objected. The company, along with the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania, argued that the work involved deploying and splicing low-voltage fiber optic cable, tasks they said were better suited to teledata lineman and teledata worker classifications that Verizon wanted the Secretary to create. 

Verizon filed a grievance with the Prevailing Wage Appeals Board on May 22, 2024. The Communications Workers of America and Brightspeed intervened in support of Verizon. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers intervened on the other side, backing the Bureau’s classification. 

The Board denied the grievance in September 2025. Verizon and the Broadband Communications Association appealed to the Commonwealth Court. 

The court addressed five issues and affirmed the Board’s order on each one. 

On the question of whether the Bureau had authority to issue the wage determinations, the court found that the Secretary of Labor and Industry had properly authorized the Bureau to act as her representative. The Bureau had been carrying out prevailing wage determinations on the Secretary’s behalf for decades, consistent with the Administrative Code.