AHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — News 13 received several calls on Wednesday, Oct. 30 from linemen who said they were not being compensated, despite working long hours for several weeks.

They gathered in the old Sears parking lot on South Tunnel Road after the work stoppage began at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

The company, Next Era Communications, hired equipment and bucket trucks from around the country in early October to help Western North Carolina rebuild after Helene.

Miguel Burgos, owner of Next Era, told News 13 that Next Era has a contract with MasTec, who has a contract with Spectrum.

He said his people have not been paid for the work they did between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13 despite signing a payment term called Net 14 with MasTec, which they told News 13 would pay them 15 days after submitting your first invoice.

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That would have been October 23rd.

Thirty years (and) this is the first time I’ve had something (written) like this,” Burgos said. “I’ve never seen a company with people like this, especially something like Asheville. Asheville was destroyed and I’ve been doing this for a long time… most of my life. This is crazy.

Jack Reid, who runs GoJet Recruiting Services, said he is responsible for rounding up these linemen and bringing them to Western North Carolina.

He told News 13 there have been about 200 crews on the ground in recent weeks.

“If you go look in my vehicle, there’s a dog in there and an air mattress; “That’s where we’re sleeping,” Reid said. “We haven’t showered. We’re not going to eat. Everything they promised and said they would deliver. Nothing is being fulfilled.”

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Burgos said his teams worked in Asheville, Lenoir, Aiken and Spartanburg. They have completed work in Spartanburg, but Burgos said he was told they would be here another two weeks working on the other cities.

In addition to pay for two days of work at Lenoir, Reid said crews had not been paid as of Wednesday morning for their first week of work.

On News 13 at noon, WLOS shared the above information live. Minutes later, Reid shared a message with the linemen present.

“The offer is that they will pay us our travel expenses to date, until today,” he said. “They want to know if that will be enough for everyone to go to work. What do you think?”

The answer was a unanimous no; the crews would not return to work just for their per diem.

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Better news arrived shortly before 12:30.

So, they agreed to pay us our first week, so they’ll pay us all tomorrow,” Reid relayed to his linemen. “So, they’ll pay us tomorrow and our per diem.

Reid said his team would take the rest of the day and return to work Thursday after the money arrived.

News 13 also reached out to MasTec and Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent company, for comment. Neither company responded to News 13’s questions about why linemen say they were not paid on time for their work in early October.

Correction: News 13 broadcast at 6 p.m. that these workers had been fired, according to one of the men News 13 spoke to, who is a member of the leadership team. News 13 would like to clarify that these workers have not been fired and the error has been corrected for subsequent broadcasts.