SUPPORTING STATEMENT
The International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work recognizes the following international human rights: “1) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; 2) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour; 3) the effective abolition of child labour; 4) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation; and 5) a safe and healthy working environment.”1 AT&T’s Principles of Conduct for Suppliers recognizes these human rights.2
While we commend AT&T for recognizing the human right to a safe and healthy workplace in its policies, we believe that conducting an independent third-party assessment of AT&T’s due diligence process for preventing health and safety violations is appropriate. The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urge companies to “know and show” that they respect human rights by adopting “a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights.”3
We are concerned about the potential violation of the human right to a safe and healthy workplace by AT&T’s contractors that climb towers for wireless communication services. The climbing of communication towers to install and maintain wireless infrastructure equipment has raised safety concerns due to the hazardous nature of the work.4 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has called tower climbing the most dangerous job in America.5
According to a report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, “responsibility for employee safety is fractured into many layers” between wireless carriers, communications tower owners, and tower climber contractors. These regulatory agencies have recommended that carriers adopt various best practices for contractor selection and vetting, reporting, auditing, training, recordkeeping and communication. 6
A May 2023 survey of tower climbers by the Communications Workers of America found that 59 percent of respondents know someone who has been seriously injured on the job and 17 percent have known someone who was fatally injured on the job. Moreover, 35 percent of respondents report pressure to work unsafely to meet deadlines and 60 percent of respondents state that safety incidents are only investigated, “some of the time,” “rarely,” or “never.7
For these reasons, we urge you to vote FOR this shareholder resolution.
1 https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang--en/index.htm
2 https://attsuppliers.com/misc/SupplierSustainabilityPrinciples.pdf 
3 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf 
4 https://www.propublica.org/article/cell-tower-fatalities 
5 https://www.osha.gov/news/speeches/02132008 
6 https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA3877.pdf
7 https://cwa-union.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/TCUCWASafetyReport.pdf