Eight GCI technicians will vote on joining a union over the company's objection

Eight GCI technicians will vote by mail on whether to join a union, after a federal labor official ordered the election last week over the company's objection.

It's a small group at a big company. GCI is Alaska's largest telecom. At the end of 2025, its parent company reported about 1,880 full- and part-time employees and said in its annual report that it had no union contracts with them. Its rival Alaska Communications is mostly union: about 59% of its workforce was represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers at the end of 2025, according to ATN International, which owns about 52% of the company.

IBEW Local 1547 petitioned the National Labor Relations Board on Sept. 16 to represent GCI's "OSP Construction and Implementation Technicians" in Alaska. In the telecom industry, OSP usually stands for outside plant, the cables and equipment that run outside buildings. The records don't say what the eight technicians do or where they're based.

GCI "opposed the legality of the proposed unit," its parent, Liberty Capital Corp., said in a quarterly report filed Thursday. The board held a hearing Sept. 24-29, and its regional director ordered the election Oct. 29. The board hasn't posted the decision or the two sides' briefs, so the public record doesn't show GCI's argument or the regional director's reasoning.

In the same report, the company told investors that more unionization "could result in higher labor costs, reduced operational flexibility and labor disputes, including strikes or work stoppages."

The board's Seattle office will mail ballots Nov. 10 and count them by videoconference Dec. 15. A majority of valid ballots decides the outcome, and only one valid election can be held in a 12-month period.

The quarterly report also warned that a federal appeals court ruling could disrupt the subsidies behind 47% of GCI's revenue.