The Communications Workers of America has elected Claude Cummings Jr. president of the union, which represents media and telecom workers among many others.

Cummings, the first Black man to hold the post, according to CWA, has been VP of the union’s District 6, which represents more than 45,000 union members in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. He also headed the union’s human rights department.

During a lengthy career as a “leading voice” in local and state politics, Cummings worked to pass a law that enabling AT&T to provide video service, which meant thousands of jobs for unionized technicians installing the new plant.

Cummings is first vice president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP, second VP of the Texas State NAACP Conference, and an executive board member of the National NAACP Labor Committee.

He succeeds Chris Shelton atop the union.

CWA also elected Ameenah Salaam as secretary-treasurer. She had been assistant to the CWA international president.

The Communications Workers of America and Microsoft are teaming up to launch a “Get Connected” program to boost uptake of the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program.

The partnership stems from a labor agreement hammered out between the two in June that included collaborating on technology skills education and adoption.

The Biden administration has made clear it has a nuanced definition of broadband availability that includes price, service quality, competition and the skills to use the technology.

The CWA and Microsoft have definite interests in universal broadband since it means jobs for union members and more users for Microsoft's suite of technologies and applications.

The campaign kicks off at a Labor Day festival in Atlanta and will continue in cities in Detroit, Memphis, New York City and rural North Carolina. ▪️

About 2,000 Frontier Communications employees that walked off last Friday in several California communities over a dispute involving the use of non-union subcontractors were back on the job August 25, according to the Communications Workers of America. 

The CWA members went on strike on August 19, objecting to Frontier’s use of subcontractors for buildout work they said was in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the telecom company. Under that agreement, no more than 5% of Frontier’s workforce could be subcontracted.

As part of the new agreement, the union said Frontier has committed to follow the limits of subcontracting as put forth in the collective bargaining agreement, including posting job requisitions for at least a hundred Term Cable Splicer positions; meeting regularly with CWA on the status of the postings; offering union jobs in lieu of contract workers; and utilizing the existing referral program for union members to assist the company in finding qualified applicants. According to the union, the strike ended at  11:59 p.m. PT on August 24, and all employees returned to work on or before August 25. 

“This is a huge victory for CWA members at Frontier who stayed one day longer, one day stronger on the picket line and refused to settle for the company’s excuses and empty promises. It’s proof that we can successfully fight back when we come together, mobilize and build solidarity,” said CWA Local 9510 Executive Vice President Kenny Williams in a press release. 

Frontier officials did not respond immediately to a request for comment, but in earlier press reports said that the dispute had been mainly a misunderstanding. 

“Like most companies, we’re using contractors to fill a gap as we actively recruit new talent in a tight labor market,” Frontier said in a statement to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “Other factors have also pushed us to engage more contractors than normal, like weather-related repair issues, meeting PUC service requirements and employees not willing to meet overtime requirements.”

Telecom companies across the country have been experiencing a worker shortage as fiber build projects grow and the labor pool of skilled workers dwindles. 

Also: Equipment, Worker Shortage Could Delay Fiber Buildout

And though the CWA claimed victory in this dispute, it still is waiting for a new contract with Frontier. According to the Tribune, its previous collective bargaining agreement expired in September 2021, but workers have been without a contract since its last extension expired in April. 

“I am grateful for all of the members of the community who have been persistently supporting CWA members at Frontier and fighting alongside us to protect good jobs and the quality of service our customers receive. Although the issues relating to this grievance are resolved, we are still fighting for a new contract. I have no doubt in my mind that our members are ready, able and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that Frontier provides quality service and good jobs for Californians,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce in a press release.

The Communications Workers of America praised Sunday's (Aug. 7) passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which among other things will set a minimum corporate tax rate and invest in green energy.

In a statement, CWA said the 15% minimum tax on large corporations will help ensure "that instead of gaming the system to boost profits they will pay their fair share."

The bill also levies a 1% tax on stock buybacks, which the unions said companies use to inflate wealthy shareholder profits instead of investing more in their workers and product.

They said the green energy part will create hundreds of thousands of new, good jobs.

CWA praised the Democrats and vowed to work to get more of them elected in November, in part so they can get rid of the filibuster and make it easier for workers to unionize.

CWA represents a range of workers in addition to those in telecommunications and media.

While the bill is billed as the Inflation Reduction Act, Republicans, none of whom voted for the bill in the Senate, are branding it a reckless spending bill and liberal wish list [Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)] that will boost, not reduce inflation. ■

It appears that two can play at the game of six-figure ad campaigns targeted at Federal Communications Commission nominees — in this case, the nomination of Gigi Sohn to fill the vacant Democratic (majority) seat.

A week after a group called The One Country Project (OCP) said it had launched a six-figure ad campaign meant to keep Sohn off the commission, the Communications Workers of America Monday (April 25) said it had launched a six-figure campaign to make sure she did get the seat.

Also: Industry Groups Urge Senate to Confirm Gigi Sohn

Sohn’s nomination has yet to officially be discharged from the Senate Commerce Committee after it the panel was tied along party lines on recommending that the full Senate confirm her. Now the full Senate must discharge the nomination from the committee before it can vote to confirm or deny.

CWA is all for confirming.

In its digital ad campaign, the union is saying that it is “dark money corporate groups” that are trying to block the nomination to stave off any actions “that would help ensure all Americans have reliable and affordable access to broadband.”

Actually, the current FCC, politically tied at 2-2, has been taking a number of actions to promote broadband deployment. It has not, however, been able to move on Big Ticket issues along partisan divides, like net neutrality rules, which the CWA supports.

Fans of Sohn argue that internet service providers and some broadcasters are pushing back for fear, not without reason, that a Democratic FCC majority will restore the Title II-based net neutrality rules ISPs oppose. and restore some broadcast-ownership rules that station groups say keep them from being able to compete in a multiplatform world where cable and over-the-top have no similar constraints. They also argue Republicans are trying to block nominees in general as they prepare for what they hope is a midterm takeover.

“Gigi Sohn has long been a strong advocate on behalf of consumer broadband access, a supporter of workers in the telecommunications and technology industries, and a proponent for an open, free and fair internet,” Shane Larson, CWA senior director of government affairs and policy, said in outlining the ad campaign. “The delay in her confirmation makes it harder for the FCC to serve the American people, which is how the corporations that the agency is meant to regulate like it. It’s past time for the Senate to confirm her so that the FCC can have a full complement of commissioners and get to work.”

The ad campaign will run on Facebook and news websites in Arizona, West Virginia and Nevada, given that CWA sees the votes of Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) as key to getting enough to confirm Sohn.

In other Sohn news, the National Religious Broadcasters has come out against the nomination, saying it fears Sohn will use the FCC to censor conservative voices. Sohn has been critical of Fox News Channel and Sinclair Broadcast Group, but has also said she would not use the FCC to censor speech of any kind but would approach decisions based on the facts and the law. ■

The NewsGuild, a union representing journalists, is raising questions about Apollo Global Management's role in financing Standard General’s proposed $8.6 billion acquisition of Tegna that it thinks the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice should consider before approving the deal.

The union, part of the Communications Workers of America, said its first concern is further erosion of local journalism and newsroom jobs being lost. It noted that as private equity firms have acquired newspaper companies, they have eliminated the jobs of thousands of journalists. 

“What will it mean to the future of local journalism if private equity firm Apollo finances the acquisition of Tegna?,” NewsGuild president Jon Schleuss asked in a post on the union’s website Friday. ”Will it use its financial position and influence to fire local broadcast journalists around the U.S.”

Also: Standard General Says Change Will Be Good for Tegna

Schleuss also questioned why Tegna’s new owner is asking the FCC for waiver of its foreign ownership rule. He argues that in order to obtain a waiver it should make a commitment to preserve local journalism.

In addition, he notes that Apollo itself is a station owner and that the deal appears to be structured to avoid broadcast-ownership caps.

“How do Apollo’s major debt and equity investments totaling over $1.7 billion not lead to shared ownership or control of Apollo’s and Tegna’s stations, resulting in far more than 39% national coverage? Does the debt include rights to acquire Tegna stations in the event of a default, which again would violate the 39% cap? Do current market conditions, including inflation and supply chain problems, raise the risk of such default? Do the equity investments include governance rights of any kind, or terms and conditions that would increase Apollo’s influence over time? And even if the applicants argue that their deal meets the letter of the law, does the proposed structure lead to de facto control by Apollo and the violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the 39% cap,” Schleuss wrote.

Finally, Schleuss asked if the transition will raise consumer prices as the newly acquired Tegna stations seek higher retransmission fees from cable and satellite distributors. ■ 

Communications Workers of America president Christopher Shelton is blaming Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) for the failure, so far, of Federal Communications Commission nominee Gigi Sohn to get a vote in the Senate Commerce Committee.

Wicker is ranking member of the committee, but does not control the timing of a vote, which is in the purview of chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

In an op-ed endorsing Sohn, Shelton likened Republican obstruction of the Sohn nomination to the Capitol insurrection, calling it “yet another Republican attempt to undermine our democratic system and the functioning of the federal government.”

Wicker has called for a second hearing on Sohn’s nomination. She already had one, but President Joe Biden had to resubmit the nomination earlier this month after the committee did not vote on it before the end of last year.

Wicker is concerned about, among other things, the potential ongoing conflict of interest related to Sohn's association with Locast, the TV-station streaming service that shuttered after a court ruled it was illegally streaming network content. That issue appears to have resolved itself with a settlement that relieved Sohn, a former Locast board member, of any liability.

Shelton called on Democrats to get moving and approve Sohn, saying: “She is known as a long-time, tireless advocate for the expansion of affordable internet access — one of the key issues on the Democrats’ agenda. There is currently a vacant seat on the FCC, and without a full commission it will be difficult to advance the policies necessary to expand affordable broadband service to the millions of American families left on the wrong side of the digital divide.” ■

Faced with the prospect of Connecticut expanding the state’s one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) policy for communications buildouts, the Communications Workers of America is pushing back, filing comments with the state's Public Utility Regulatory Authority arguing that OTMR threatens public safety and worker security.

In August 2018 the FCC voted unanimously, with one partial dissent by current acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel, to adopt a one-touch, make-ready (OTMR) policy for new broadband attachments on utility poles.

The idea behind OTMR is to speed broadband deployments while ensuring the pole work is done safely. For example, complex connections or ones where the safety risks are greater, such as high up on a pole, will still be subject to multi-touches.

At the time of the vote, then-FCC chairman Ajit Pai said pole attachments were one of the biggest barriers to broadband deployment, and that OTMR promises to ”substantially“ lower costs and reduce the time to attach. He likened the lack of OTMR to making separate round trips to the grocery store for each item on a shopping list.

CWA argues the “done safely” part is missing from the regime, as well as skilled CWA members when the make-ready is done by non-union workers.

“OTMR would allow telecommunication companies that want to put new equipment on utility poles to move existing equipment themselves without sufficient oversight from safety inspectors or the owners of the utility pole,” the union in its comments. “Meanwhile, these companies often use untrained third-party contractors for this work, undermining the collective bargaining agreements of the skilled telecom employees who originally installed the equipment.”

The union included photos of what it said was faulty contract work “throughout Connecticut,” including “hanging fiber cables, disconnected from the strands that hold them in the air; damaged utility poles; fiber cables left on public sidewalks and in snowbanks; lack of warning signs or cones when work is being conducted on public streets; poles improperly secured; and more.”

The Communications Workers of America is calling for "greater" regulatory scrutiny of the proposed AT&T spin-off of WarnerMedia assets into a new company partnership with Discovery.

The union said that the Biden Administration needs to look more seriously at the impact of the deal on jobs and wages. "For too long, regulators have had tunnel vision when it comes to anti-trust review," said CWA President Chris Shelton, pointing to what he said was AT&T's failure to live up to promises it made in its merger with Time Warner.

CWA supported that merger based on assurances the new company would not interfere with efforts to unionize its workers. "AT&T did not keep its promise to the workers," CWA said. "Instead of honoring CWA’s long standing voluntary union recognition agreement, the company launched a court battle to dodge their contractual commitments to respect workers’ organizing rights."

Also Read: CWA Applauds AT&T for Scrapping Stock Buyback

At the time, Shelton also said CWA backed the merger because it would provide "much-needed" competition to Google, Facebook and Amazon, which were all non-union.

The union was also leery of AT&T's touting this week of the $3 billion in synergies the Discovery deal will produce. "Synergies are almost always another way of saying job cuts, and in the absence of union representation and collective bargaining agreements, consolidation is likely to result in lower wages across the industry as workers have fewer options for employment," said CWA.

Gigi Sohn, former counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, will headline a Communications Workers of America (CWA) briefing Monday (April 12) calling on states to regulate broadband in the absence of FCC net neutrality regs.

Sohn was an evangelist for Wheeler's bright-line net neutrality rules, which were reversed by the FCC under Republican FCC Chair Ajit Pai against the wishes of current acting chair Jessica Rosenworcel. Sohn is also a name that surfaces when there are openings for FCC commissioner, as there is currently.

Once there is a Democratic majority on the FCC, it is expected to try and reinstate  federal net neutrality regs, unless a Democratic Congress beats it to the punch.

But following the FCC's elimination of the rules against blocking, throttling and paid prioritization, action on that front moved to the Hill and the states.

Also Read: Sohn Says FCC Authority Is Key to Net Neutrality Regulation

CWA says that while the Biden Administration's infrastructure/jobs package has $100 billion for broadband, it will also take state-level accountability given what it says have been "decades of industry-driven deregulation has left consumers without recourse when their service is poorly maintained or nonexistent."

CWA wants public utility commission oversight of broadband providers deploying broadband with all those billions to ensure "resiliency, public safety and consumer protection."

California is arguably the poster-state for local laws regulating broadband, but CWA will also highlight efforts in Colorado and New York. Also scheduled to speak at the press conference is New York State Senator Sean Ryan, who has sponsored the New York Broadband Resiliency, Public Safety and Quality Act.

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved Frontier Communications' Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan Wednesday, agreeing to expand its fiber network and pledging not to reduce its workforce in the state for at least two years.

Frontier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April. The company received Federal Communications Commission approval for the plan earlier this month.  With Connecticut’s approval, 12 of the 25 states in which Frontier operates have approved the plan.

The Communications Workers of America, which represents about 1,600 Frontier technicians and call center workers in Connecticut, had pressed for the approval to include conditions to improve service quality and preserve jobs in the state. The CWA had pointed out that Frontier has jettisoned about 740 employees in the state, about 30% of its workforce, since 2016. The union also wanted the PURA to use the oversight process to ensure the company stayed accountable to its workers and customers and not Wall Street hedge funds.     

As part of the reorganization, Frontier said it would reduce debt by about $11 billion and build out its fiber network across its footprint. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy early this year. In December, the company named former Vodafone executive Nick Jeffery as CEO.  Jeffery, who is expected to take the helm on March 1, replaces Bernie Han, who will remain on the board of directors and assist in the transition.  

Among the conditions for approval in Connecticut, Frontier agreed to add at least an additional 100,000 locations in the state in a four-year period ended Dec. 31, 2024, pledged not to reduce its technicians and call center workforce through involuntary attrition for two years and promised to maintain its corporate headquarters in Connecticut.

In a statement, CWA Local 1298 president Dave Weidlich said the PURA approval commits Frontier to expanding its fiber network and offers some protections for employees, but fell short of the mark.

“However, we believe this was a missed opportunity to follow the lead of other states who have put stronger conditions on Frontier related to capital investment, broadband deployment and workforce retention,” Weidlich added. “CWA remains committed to working with Frontier to provide the best possible service to Connecticut customers and to ensure that Frontier lives up to both the letter and spirit of this decision. We hope that this decision will serve as a starting point for Frontier’s continued investment and that Frontier makes a strong, ongoing commitment to Connecticut homes and businesses to provide Connecticut with the connectivity we deserve.”

The FCC has approved Frontier's plan for restructuring out of bankruptcy, which includes allowing it to complete what amounts to a transfer of control from the old company to the restructured one before the FCC authorizes its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I support. It was one of the winning bidders in the recent auction for rural broadband buildout subsidies.

That is part of a $1.4 billion investment the company has said it planned to make in building out its network.

Also Read: Frontier Maps Out Restructuring Plan

"We have thoroughly reviewed the record, including the supplemental information submitted by the Applicants, and we conclude that the transaction serves the public interest, convenience, and necessity and meets the requirements of the Act," the FCC said.

A bankruptcy court approved the plan Aug. 21.

The Communications Workers of America had asked the FCC to hold off on the decision until it collected more data on the restructuring's impact on workers and until it had reviewed the results of state regulatory reviews, but the FCC declined to do both.

"Based on the record, we find no merit to CWA’s and TURN’s concerns regarding service quality, competitiveness, workforce, including CWA’s members, and operations," it said. "Indeed, we expect that Frontier is more likely to improve service quality and invest in infrastructure than it would be absent its prompt emergence from bankruptcy."

It pointed out Frontier had promised that “all employee wages, compensation, benefit programs, and collective bargaining agreements in effect as of the Plan’s effective date will remain in place.”

CWA said it would continue to monitor the deal.

"In the absence of an investigation of these issues by the FCC, some states like California are pursuing thorough oversight that is resulting in strong commitments to ensure the bankruptcy reorganization will benefit the public," CWA said in a statement. "Frontier’s recent proposed settlement to the California Public Utility Commission to gain approval of the bankruptcy restructuring plan included a commitment of $1.75bn in new capital investment, 350,000 new fiber to the premise connections, and a commitment to maintain technician staffing levels and California call center locations required to perform this work. CWA will continue its advocacy for other states to follow suit and for Frontier to use its enhanced financial flexibility to invest equitably across all the communities it serves."

The Communications Workers of America is backing Fuse Media's program carriage complaint against AT&T at the FCC, saying it has made a strong case and one that illustrates "the threat media consolidation poses to diverse media ownership."

That came in comments to the FCC supporting Fuse Media's complaint, according to  a copy of the filing.

Fuse is charging AT&T's DirecTV with discriminating against the network in favor of affiliated, similarly situated, programming.

Also Read: Fuse Charges AT&T Discriminated Against It

Programmers can make carriage decisions based on defensible business strategies--lack of capacity, not of sufficient interest to viewers--but not based on favoring their own content.

Fuse claims AT&T pays more for its affiliated programming than it is willing to offer Fuse.

Fuse says the discrimination and failure to bargain for carriage in good faith, as the FCC requires, started after it bought Time Warner and its networks--TNT, Adult Swim, TruTV, etc.

CWA signaled in its comments that it knew where Fuse was coming from. "CWA itself has experienced improper conduct in the hands of AT&T, conduct that is likewise inspired by the same misguided focus on Time Warner Media’s bottom line," they said. "And as with Fuse Media, this treatment is a stark departure from AT&T’s conduct toward CWA prior to its acquisition of Time Warner."

Also Read: Fuse Says it is Being Dropped By Comcast

The Justice Department tried to block AT&T's purchase of Time Warner, arguing that the new company would have the incentive and ability to favor its programming and disfavor rivals, but a court disagreed.

CWA pointed out it supported the merger, but that AT&T had subsequently "failed to respect the agreement it made with CWA to ensure the organizing rights of employees at acquisitions like Time Warner."

"AT&T should be met with a huge dose of skepticism if it claims that Fuse programming is not valuable to AT&T and that its treatment of Fuse has nothing to do with its interest in making its affiliated programmers more profitable," CWA told the commission, "Any such claims should not be credited on AT&T’s say-so, and should be tested by discovery in the adversarial process of a fact-finding proceeding, as contemplated by the program carriage rules."

Count the Communications Workers of America among those rooting for President-elect Joe Biden to name senior FCC Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel to chair his FCC.

CWA President Christopher Shelton sent a letter to Biden asking both for Rosenworcel as chair and for Debbie Goldman to be the third Democratic commissioner after current chairman Ajit Pai gives up his commissioner's seat Jan. 20.

Shelton said Rosenworcel had fought for greater access to telecom for all Americans, rather than accepting "marketing pitches" from telecom lobbyists. "Jessica digs for the truth behind the numbers and understand[s] the needs and concerns of the people who are most affected by FCC decisions--teachers and students, healthcare workers, and patients, first responders and small businesses," plus the tens of thousands of CWA members.

CWA has a big rooting interest in Goldman, who was a 22-year veteran of CWA and most recently director of research and telecom policy director.

Shelton said that the pair would be "extremely effective in advancing [the President-elect's] agenda to get America back on track."

Rosenworcel, who has a lot of fans on the Hill and in the Valley (Silicon), is considered a leading candidate for the FCC's center seat.

The Communications Workers of America is teaming up with some other groups to take aim at ISPs over broadband deployment.

They plan a virtual briefing Monday (Oct. 5) on "how millions of Americans have been left without access to broadband by profit-driven corporations."

They said they also plan to release three studies--from CWA as well as the National Digital Inclusion Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute that they say provide a "detailed analysis of broadband connectivity data and labor trends that impact deployment."

The briefing comes as the FCC is in the midst of trying to come up with better broadband deployment data on its own initiative and also in response to a congressional mandate.

The FCC has concluded in recent years that broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion to all Americans, though chairman Ajit Pai has conceded there is still work to be done to close that digital divide, a divide under the spotlight due to the pandemic and the resulting move of work and play, school and healthcare, online.

In response to criticisms of the continuing divide, Pai has pointed out that in addition to the billions of dollars the government already collects and hands out in broadband subsidies, there are billions of dollars more in COVID-19 aid money from Congress to the states that can be used to help connect more people, particularly students, during the pandemic.

The Communications Workers of America, joined by a bunch of other groups including computer company-backed Open Technology Institute (New America), called on Congress Tuesday (April 21) not to give T-Mobile any pandemic relief money to meet "merger specific build-out commitments it agreed to when it sought approval of the T-Mobile-Sprint merger from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and state public utilities commissions." 

Related: FCC Approves Sprint/T-Mobile Merger 

Congress and the Trump Administration have signaled that money for infrastructure buildouts should be part of the pandemic recovery plan, but the groups, which also include the Rural Wireless Association and Free Press Action said that should not include money for the T-Mobile-Sprint buildout conditions. 

T-Mobile and Sprint committed to deploy 5G service covering 97% of the American people within three years, and 99% by year six. That included deploying 5G covering 85% of rural Americans within three years and 90% within six. 

T-Mobile should not get a "corporate handout" for meeting commitments it touted to get the deal approved," they wrote in a letter to members of Congress.

The letter points out that the FCC has signaled that the merger condition buildouts will not be eligible for its $9 billion 5G fund, saying it would be “inappropriate to allow the use of high-cost support to fulfill merger conditions." 

Related: All the Latest News on COVID-19 Impact on Industry

What's sauce for the 5G fund goose is sauce for the COVID-19 infrastructure gander, CWA et. al argue.  

“Congress must hold the new T-Mobile accountable for the promises it made to ram the merger through the approval process,” said CWA director of government affairs Dan Mauer in a statement. “T-Mobile promised that the merger would give the company the resources to build out 5G to nearly the entire U.S. population, including rural areas. COVID-19 recovery funds should be used to address the crisis caused by the pandemic, not as a corporate handout to help the new T-Mobile fulfill the promises the company was eager to make to push this merger through.”

The Communications Workers of America and Verizon have struck an agreement on worker leave and sick pay policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CWA represents about a fifth of the company's 135,000 workers. 

The agreement includes the following, according to CWA: 

1. "Employees that are diagnosed with COVID will receive 26 weeks of paid leave. 

2. "Employees with an underlying health condition who are directed to stay out of the workplace by a doctor in order to insulate from COVID, including in order to protect a family member who has the underlying condition, will receive 8 weeks at full pay and up to 18 weeks at 60% pay. 

3. "Employees who are not able to work due to the closure of their child's school or daycare arrangements and for whom another childcare option is not available will receive 8 weeks at full pay and up to 18 weeks at 60% pay. 

4. "Verizon extended services for affordable childcare through a childcare agency. The agency will provide backup childcare or reimburse employees for services provided by a family member. 

5. "Employees who are unable to work due to caring for a family member who has COVID and are unable to make other treatment arrangements will receive 8 weeks full pay and up to 18 weeks at 60% pay. 

6. "With a new work-at-home arrangement, employees are now able to volunteer to work from home." 

“We appreciate the cooperative and constructive approach taken by Verizon as we negotiated these agreements," said CWA District One VP Dennis Trainor." 

The Communications Workers of America applauded AT&T for canceling its plan to use $4 billion to buy back stock.

CWA president Chris Shelton wrote AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson to praise the decision to cancel that second-quarter stock repurchase.

CWA represents about 100,000 AT&T employees. 

"The Company previously announced it had entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement (“ASR Agreement”) with Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC to repurchase $4 billion of the Company’s common stock during the second quarter," AT&T told the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday (March 20). "While our business continues to operate effectively during the COVID-19 global pandemic, we have decided at this time to cancel this ASR agreement and any other repurchases to maintain flexibility and focus on continued investment in serving our customers, taking care of our employees and enhancing our network, including nationwide 5G. These continued investments will help ensure the Company is well positioned when the pandemic passes and economies begin to recover." 

Shelton said the union remained committed to working with management to "ensure worker and customer safety, solve problems, and provide reliable service to customers" during the pandemic.

“Working with us to keep AT&T workers and their families safe and your decision to put workers and customers first by cancelling $4 billion in stock repurchases will enable all of us to better weather this crisis," said Shelton. 

The Communications Workers of America said that Congress should swiftly pass the P.A.I.D. Leave Act, which would provide all workers with paid sick days and paid family and medical leave in response to the coronavirus. 

But CWA also wants those benefits in place for future crises and life events. 

“Nobody should be forced to go to work while sick or capable of spreading a disease during a pandemic," said CWA senior director for government affairs and policy Shane Larson. "Congress must immediately act to give all workers paid sick days and paid family and medical leave to stop the spread of COVID-19. Working people across the country and across the world are looking to their elected officials to use their power and provide leadership in this time of crisis. Our legislators have an opportunity to act now and save lives by passing this bill.” 

Related: CWA Says ISPs Should Lift All Data Caps

The bill would require employers to document to the Department of Labor that they are providing the sick leave. Labor has five days to certify that to Treasury, which must cut a check within two days. 

Also among the bill's salary protections are 12 weeks of paid leave at 2/3 pay during a "public health emergency." 

The bill would apply to all employers and cover independent contractors. 

It was introduced by Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (from Washington state, one of the hardest hit by the virus), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (from New York, another hard-hit state, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut.

The Communications Workers of America and consumer groups are calling on all ISPs--wired and wireless--to lift data caps, waive usage overage charges, and discontinue throttling the capacity of some customers who exceed data thresholds. 

ISPs have committed to opening WiFi hotspots for free and some are waiving overage charges and holding off discontinuing service for nonpayment. But the unions are looking for more. 

Related: Comcast Ramps Up Broadband (Public) Service 

In addition to data caps, they want the FCC: 

"To remove barriers to immediate access to service plans, including any waiting period to enroll (e.g., 90-day period without a broadband subscription) and the disqualification of those with past or current arranges with the company; and 

"Share with the FCC data collected on the number of customers served, by what packages, and where expanded services were provided during the emergency, especially data on the impacts of raised data limits on service quality and network management or any challenges raised by waiving waiting periods." 

This information can help the FCC manage connectivity challenges associated with the pandemic, including identification of critical-need communities and network weaknesses, and help the government prepare for future crises." 

They also want that info shared with the public, with privacy safeguards. 

The Communications Workers of America's largest local has endorsed Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for President. 

The University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE)-CWA 9119, representing 17,000 employees across the University of California system held member vote and Sanders got 66%. 

The union cited Sanders as the candidate for the working class and organized labor as pointed to his decision not to cross a picket line for the December debate in Los Angeles and to speak to a UPTE-CWA 9119 strike action last year. 

"I’m honored to receive UPTE-CWA 9119’s support today,” said Sanders in a statement.

The Communications Workers of America said 52 Altice USA employees based Beckley and Logan, West Virginia are “ready to fight for job security” as they prep for their first collective bargaining negotiator with the cable company.

“Altice’s workers and customers deserve better than this,” said Patrick Adkins, a member of CWA’s bargaining team from CWA Local 2002, which represents workers serving Altice’s Suddenlink brand in West Virginia. “It’s time for Altice to come to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair contract with CWA members to stop this trend of outsourcing that’s harming our communities.”

“As Altice continues to expand its company footprint, CWA members in West Virginia are ready to fight for a fair contract that protects good union jobs and improves the quality of service for customers by returning work to highly-skilled union members instead of contracting it out to cheap labor,” added Rob Lynch, a CWA bargaining team member from CWA Local 2007, which also serves Altice workers in West Virginia.

Altice USA responded with this statement: "We are committed to bargaining in good faith under the standards of the NLRA to work towards a mutually acceptable agreement, and, in this case, are fully engaged in discussions with the CWA." 

T-Mobile CEO John Legere was speaking confidently Friday (Feb. 22) about prospects for the merger with Sprint, which is currently being vetted by the FCC, Justice Department and state regulators, saying he still expected it to secure approval by June.

"The great news is we are moving forward positively," he blogged, pointing to the approvals from 16 of the needed 19 state utility commissions.

It was not clear whether his enthusiasm was based on any new insider insight or an effort to counter the deal's critics. He did say: "Don’t let some of the headlines confuse you." For example, a headline Thursday (Feb. 21) in a release from deal critic Communications Workers of America read: "T-Mobile Feels Heat on Jobs-Related Concerns, Lashes Out with Unsubstantiated and Hypocritical Attacks."

Related: T-Mobile's Legere: We Are the Un-Cable, Too

Legere listed the deal's supporters, including the 13 members of Congress led by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Billy Long (R-Mo.), saying: "I always love it when so many important and smart people and organizations recognize how beneficial this transaction will be for consumers and for the country!"

But he was less sanguine about the deal's critics, saying many were "buzzing around with a lot of inaccurate claims and made up data," trying to "scare people" away from the creation of a "supercharged un-carrier," which has become his nickname for the new company, an effort to rebrand what others argue would be reducing the number three and four carriers competing against themselves as well as AT&T and Verizon into another telco giant.

Legere said many of the groups opposing the deal are newly formed coalitions with covert funding and hidden agendas.

He said the heart of the deal is rolling out 5G nationwide, versus a lesser rollout if the two companies were forced to tackle it individually.

T-Mobile and Sprint say they if their proposed merger is approved by the Justice Department and FCC and closes, the combined company "plans" to build five new customer care call centers in the U.S., which it says will mean 5,000 new jobs.

Critics of the deal have cited job losses as one of the reasons to take issue with the merger.

But wait, there's more. The merger partners plan to expand two existing centers, so that will mean another 600 new jobs.

The first new call center will be in Overland Park, Kan., where Sprint is headquartered. (Kansas is also home state of Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai.)

T-Mobile CEO John Legere talked up the status of those call-center employees.

“The heroes who work in our Customer Experience Centers show customers every day why they chose the Un-carrier — and that will not change with the New T-Mobile," he said.

“I am so pleased with the addition of a new Customer Experience Center that New T-Mobile has committed to add 1,000 jobs to Kansas and will continue to grow its second headquarters in Overland Park," Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said. "I look forward to working with the New T-Mobile as it continues to invest in our great state."

The Communications Workers of America, which has said the merger puts call centers at risk, was not convinced. "They are saying everything Justice and the FCC wants to hear in order to get their merger passed," spokesperson Misty Robertson said.

Altice USA workers in Oakland N.J., narrowly voted for IBEW representation on March 1, making it one of the few union shops in the cable operator’s footprint.

Electricians, technicians and warehouse workers at Altice’s Oakland, N.J. facility vote 49-46 in favor of representation from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – Local 827. According to the National Labor Relations Board, about 100 employees at the shop were eligible to vote, with 95 casting ballots. Oakland is the second Altice USA shop to approve union representation – its Brooklyn, N.Y., facility which has about 300 workers is represented by the Communications Workers of America.

Unionization has been a hot topic for Altice USA ever since it said it would transfer its field service, construction & fiber, design, outside plant maintenance, inside plant and field-based employees serving commercial accounts to a separate company, Altice Technical Services USA. That transition began in February with Optimum employees and is continuing through April, with sources saying a large majority of workers electing to move over to ATS. Altice USA has stressed that ATS would afford workers more opportunities for advancement and training, while unions have warned it could enable the company to circumvent pledges to keep its employee rolls constant.

So far, the unions have had little luck. Altice USA employees in the Bronx, N.Y.; and Piscataway, N.J. voted down CWA representation in January. The CWA has withdrawn petitions to unionize in Brooklyn (for workers it doesn’t already represent), West Nyack and Hawthorne, N.Y.; and the IBEW has done the same in Newark, N.J.

“We are disappointed that a small group of Oakland, N.J. employees narrowly voted for IBEW union representation in what was an extremely close election, and we are assessing our options regarding the outcome,” Altice USA said in a statement. “This is a time of tremendous opportunity for our company, and Altice USA strongly believes that a direct relationship with our employees promotes an environment of trust, respect and collaboration, which ultimately drives a superior experience for our customers.”

Despite accelerated efforts by union representatives and growing uncertainty regarding plans to move technicians to a separate company, Altice USA employees voted overwhelmingly against representation last week.

Employees at Altice USA’s Piscataway, N.J., facility voted 53-43 against representation from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. At the Bronx, N.Y., location, Altice workers voted down efforts to organize by the Communications Workers of America by 113 to 92. It was the second time since 2012 that the CWA tried to organize the Bronx location.

Union reps had been encouraged that they had a chance to successfully organize the Altice USA operations after the cable company announced plans to create Altice Technical Services USA, a separate company that would house all of its field service, construction & fiber, design, outside plant maintenance, inside plant and field-based employees serving commercial accounts. Some workers feared ATS would allow Altice USA to fire workers at will, while the company said it was an attempt to offer better training and opportunity for employees.

Related: Altice USA, Meredith Ready for Retrans Tussle

For Altice USA, this was the fourth time that it has successfully pushed backed unionization efforts at its Optimum division facilities since it closed on its deal to acquire Cablevision Systems in June. Aside from the Piscataway and Bronx wins, petitions by the IBEW to organize workers in Newark, N.J. were withdrawn, as was a petition by the CWA to represent workers in Brooklyn it doesn’t already represent. CWA has about 300 union members in the Brooklyn location.

Altice USA executives have been making the rounds to employee locations to talk about the ATS transition, including CEO Dexter Goei, head of Optimum operations Pragash Pillai, chief financial officer Charles Stewart, chief operating officer Hakim Boubazine and human resources and other executives. Altice USA said that no employees have made the transition to ATS yet. Earlier, Altice USA said it expects to have its entire field service force transitioned to the new company in about five years.

Altice USA, the domestic arm of European telecom firm Altice N.V., is creating a separate company — Altice Technical Services USA — to house all its technical workers, a move it says is aimed at providing better training and top-notch customer service but one the union representing some of its employees sees as a means to reduce its workforce at will.

Altice USA is in the midst of an aggressive fiber buildout plan across its footprint that it hopes will differentiate it further in its markets; its parent company has used a similar structure in other countries where it is upgrading its network.

But tech workers are, perhaps understandably, suspicious that Altice USA felt the need to create a separate entity just for them.

Essentially ATS will house all of Altice USA’s field service, construction & fiber, design, outside plant maintenance, inside plant and field-based employees serving commercial accounts. Altice has not released just how many employees that might involve; the union estimates it could be more than 4,500. Altice USA has about 17,000 workers across the country, according to its website.

JOB COMMITMENTS IN N.Y.

In New York State, where Altice USA has its greatest concentration of customers — about 1.9 million of its 4.3 million total subscribers, according to the New York State Public Service Commission — the company agreed not to lay off customer-facing workers for four years as part of a franchise renewal.

Some workers and officials at the Communications Workers of America union, which represents about 200 Altice USA technicians in Brooklyn, N.Y., are worried the new structure could be a way around those conditions.

“We’re very concerned,” CWA District 1 assistant to the vice president Robert Master said. “But we haven’t fully unpacked it yet. We don’t know what they have in mind.”

CWA District 1 organizer Tim Dubnau said the moves seem to be in conflict with the New York PSC order, which gave Altice the final regulatory nod to close its $17.7 billion purchase of Cablevision Systems in June. Altice bought the former Suddenlink Communications in December 2015 for $9.1 billion. “We definitely smell a rat,” Dubnau said.

Altice USA countered that it believes it has been transparent in dealings with the union and employees, and that it suspects the CWA has its own agenda.

“The CWA is being misleading and mischaracterizing the facts in an effort to scare employees and advance its own interests,” Altice said in a statement.

“As we have communicated with our employees, both companies will honor all the regulatory commitments agreed to with the states, and we believe this model will provide employees with career growth and advancement opportunities as we build our fiber network,” Altice added.

The New York PSC said it is aware of Altice’s plans for ATS. “The order prohibits Altice from reducing its customer-facing workforce for four years, excluding normal attrition,” the PSC said in a statement. “There is no indication that Altice is forcing its customer-facing workforce to take positions in the new unit or is otherwise reducing its customer-facing workforce. The PSC is monitoring Altice’s compliance with the order.”

Altice early on told investors it believed it could extract more than $900 million in expenses from Cablevision over time.

The company cut costs by laying off about 600 workers at its Connecticut call center in November. Spinning off nearly a third of its workforce into a separate company could go a long way to further meeting that goal.

In memos obtained by Multichannel News that were sent to employees over the past few weeks, Altice USA executives said the company would begin staffing ATS between February and April with existing workers who volunteer to switch with an offer of cash incentives. Workers who make the switch will retain the same health and welfare benefits, seniority and vacation time.

The new unit promises to retrain workers in more modern technologies and give them more marketable skills. The company said it plans to transition its entire tech force over to the new unit within five years.

Altice’s ambitious fiber buildout aims to upgrade the bulk of its U.S. footprint to fiber-to-the-premises architecture over the next five years, delivering broadband speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second.

CWA’s Dubnau said Altice is currently giving workers three options: Stay with Altice USA (which the union says the company is strongly discouraging); sign on with ATS and get a one-time signing bonus equal to 2% of the worker’s annual salary; or agree to take a 10% pay cut, receive an 8% signing bonus and agree to incentive pay, which based on undisclosed metrics could increase pay by up to 20% based on the amount of work done. Workers at ATS would essentially be contract workers, the union said.

Altice has created similar structures in its operations in France and Portugal as it builds out a new fiber network. The company has come under fire outside of the U.S., fined $88.5 million by French regulators in November for seeking takeover deals before obtaining regulatory clearance and battling with unions over job cuts at its SFR wireless unit.

The CWA said Altice USA communications to employees hint at ominous consequences. “Beginning now and over the next five years, we will fully migrate all technical services, from our transmission points in our head ends through to the homes of our customers, to ATS,” head of Optimum operations Pragash Pillai and chief technology officer Terry Cordova said in a memo to employees. “As always, we believe in providing full transparency so that each of you can make the best decision for your career and family.”

LABOR LAWYERS’ VIEWS

Jeffrey Englander, a partner specializing in labor and employment law for New York law firm Morrison Cohen LLP, said there is usually little incentive to set up a separate entity like ATS other than to cut costs.

“They can dress it up anyway they wish to,” Englander said, adding, “But it sounds to me — to the extent there is either an increase in need for manpower or alternatively a reduction in that need — they could take the position [that] as a separate entity they are not obligated in any way to comply with that condition.”

Jane Lauer Barker, a partner specializing in labor and employment law at New York law firm Pitta & Giblin, said cost-cutting is usually the primary driver in such moves. “This wouldn’t be an unheard-of situation,” she said.

“This is something that always comes to mind in these firms — that they can cut down on their costs by spinning off this group of workers, setting up a new company that’s a new employer and shedding themselves of the obligation that the old employer might have.”

Agreeing with the Altice perspective, though, Fisher Phillips regional managing partner Steven Bernstein said cost cutting is likely not the driving reason. Factors like technology and increasing efficiency can play a greater role: “There are a lot of these entities that are trying to get increasingly nimble, increasingly agile, to compete in this global marketplace. And I’m guessing in that industry, that’s certainly the case.”

With workers nervous, the union is stepping up organizing efforts at Altice USA’s Bronx, N.Y., operations, which pushed back an organizing effort in 2012. The only location where Altice can’t force the ATS transition is in Brooklyn, because the contract prohibits it.

“It’s starting to dawn on people that if you have a union card in your back pocket, you’re protected,” Dubnau said.

SIDEBAR: The Altice Way

After acquiring Cablevision Systems in June for $17.7 billion and Suddenlink Communications for $9.1 billion in December 2015, Altice USA has a considerable presence.

Employees: 17,000-plus

Service Area: 20 states

2015 Revenue: $8.93 billion

Residential Customers: 4.3 million

Business Customers: 350,000

SOURCE : Altice USA

Verizon and striking workers agreed to return to the table on Tuesday (May 17) after the Obama Administration stepped in.

Somewhere between 36,000 and 40,000, East Coast Verizon wireline workers--including FiOS employee--represented by the Communications workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, are striking the company after they failed to reach agreement on a new contract.

On April 29, Verizon said it has submitted its last, best offer.

According to the Department of Labor, Labor Secretary reached out to both sides last week and invited them to meet with him in Washington in an effort to help them resolve the dispute.

Perez met with Verizon Chairman Lowell McAdam, CWA President Chris Shelton and IBEW president Lonnie Stephenson. The department described it as a constructive dialogue and signaled the two sides would be talking Tuesday.

"“The best way to resolve this labor dispute is at the bargaining table, and I am heartened by the parties’ mutual commitment to get back to immediate discussions and work toward a new contract,” said Secretary Perez in a statement late Sunday. “I was singularly impressed by the parties’ appreciation that time is of the essence, and their strong commitment to use the collective bargaining process to reach a mutually beneficial resolution.”

Citing complaints including that Verizon was not expanding FiOS and instead shedding workers who installed the video service, about 39,000 workers struck Verizon April 13.

“Our Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam met today with Secretary Perez and others, as noted," said a Verizon spokesperson. "We will attend the next meeting in Washington on Tuesday.”

A union spokesperson had no comment.

WASHINGTON — Speaking to New York City’s transit workers union on Wednesday (April 13), Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said he was next headed to the picket line of CWA members striking against Verizon Communications.

He told Transit Workers Union Local 100 that he was joining in "that stand against the greed of Verizon," citing it as the kind of corporate greed his campaign was aimed at reining in.

Sanders has slammed Verizon, accusing it of not paying taxes, though the company has said it pays billions and that any suggestion it does not pay its fair share is untrue.

There were at least three Communications Workers of America-International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers picket lines set up in New York. The strike began at 6 a.m. and followed ten months in which the unions and Verizon could not come to terms on new contracts for about 39,000 wireline workers on the East Coast.

WASHINGTON — Two unions representing Verizon Communications workers along the East Coast have set a Wednesday (April 13) deadline to strike against the company.

Among the 39,000 Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers-represented employees from Massachusetts to Virginia affected would be workers on the telco’s Fios TV video service, as well as telephone and broadband services.

“Even though Verizon made $39 billion in profits over the last three years — and $1.8 billion a month in profits over the first three months of 2016 — the company wants to gut job security protections, contract out more work, offshore jobs to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations and require technicians to work away from home for as long as two months without seeing their families,” the unions said in announcing the deadline. “Verizon is also refusing to negotiate any improvements in wages, benefits or working conditions for Verizon Wireless retail workers, who formed a union in 2014.”

The unions’ contracts expired in August 2015, and they said it is now time to take a stand after offering “hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings” and still not getting the basic job security they are seeking.

The unions said Verizon is:

• “Offshoring and contracting out even more customer service work to Mexico, the Philippines and other locations.”

• “Cutting job security for all workers.”

•  "Requiring technicians to work away from home for as long as two months, without seeing their families. For anyone trying to balance work and family life, this is impossible.”

• “Refusing to negotiate improvements to wages, benefits and working conditions for Verizon Wireless workers, who formed a union with CWA in 2014.”

• “Freezing pensions at 30 years of service and forcing retirees to pay extremely high health-care costs.”

• “Slashing benefits for workers injured on the job.”

"For years, Verizon has been cutting vital staff — it has nearly 40% fewer workers now than a decade ago,” the unions added.

“Verizon has failed to hire the personnel necessary to properly roll out Fios, the high-speed broadband service that is still unavailable to many of its customers,” the unions said. “In cities like Philadelphia and New York, Verizon has failed to meet the buildout obligations under their citywide cable-franchise agreements.”

Verizon was talking tough in its response, too. The telco countered that it remains committed to a deal, but said the unions would “rather make strike threats than constructively engage at the bargaining table.”

Verizon said it could continue to serve its customers whether of not the unions struck and that it has been preparing for that possibility for more than a year, training nonunion workers to do “virtually every job function handled by our represented workforce.”

Verizon said it has offered:

• “A 6.5% wage increase over the term of the contract.”

• “Access to quality and affordable healthcare benefits.”

• “Competitive retirement benefits, including a 401 (k) with a company match.”

But Verizon also said it is looking to modernize “legacy contracts” that date back decades as it seeks “greater flexibility to manage and utilize its workforce to gain operating efficiencies and better customer experiences.”

As with other telcos, Verizon is transitioning from legacy copper networks to fiber and Internet-protocol delivery.

“Legacy constraints that may have made sense in the Ma Bell era of phone booths and Princess phones don’t make sense in today’s digital world with high-speed connectivity and dynamic customer demands,” Marc Reed, Verizon’s chief administrative officer, said in response to the strike threat. “Union leaders need to realize that there are real issues that will need to be addressed with or without a strike.

“Our goal is to continue providing good jobs with competitive wages and benefits and make the wireline business more successful now and in the future. Union leadership needs to be realistic and work with us to help make that happen,” Reed said.

But if not, said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s wireline network operations, "If a strike takes place, whether it’s one day, two weeks or longer, we are ready.”

WASHINGTON — The Communications Workers of America has told the New York State Public Service Commission that the proposed merger of Altice and Cablevision Systems is not in the public interest and should be rejected.

The 700,000-member union, which represents 300 Cablevision employees, made its argument in initial comments to the New York PSC. The union has already urged the Federal Communications Commission to block the deal, and plans to take the same tack with the New York City Franchise Concession Review Committee and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.  

Cablevision in February of last year reached agreement on a new contract with the CWA, but only after years of contentious negotiations.

The union is concerned about job losses, and about the amount of assumed debt involved in European telco Altice’s $17.7 billion all-cash purchase of Bethpage, N.Y.-based Cablevision. The CWA has argued that the deal’s heavy debt burden could put jobs at risk, so it has been pushing back on a number of regulatory fronts.

The CWA has weighed in at hearings in Peekskill, N.Y. (Jan. 26); in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx (Jan. 27); and in Long Island, N.Y.’s Nassau and Suffolk counties (both Jan. 2).  

Altice and Cablevision have dismissed the CWA opposition, saying it "relies on selective press accounts, mischaracterization and surmise to impugn the transaction and advance its own narrow interests."

The deal partners called the structuring of their transaction sound, with demonstrable consumer benefits including network investment. They also noted that some of the deal’s debt load is the restructuring of existing Cablevision debt.

The Communications Workers of America has objected to Altice’s pending $17.7 billion acquisition of Cablevision Systems, saying the deal isn’t in the public interest.

In a formal objection filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the CWA, which represents about 300 Cablevision workers in Brooklyn, said the deal’s heavy debt component (about $8.6 billion) will lead to downsizing. The union also pointed to Altice’s reputation for refusing to pay contractors and outsourcing key functions of the business.   

 “Altice’s track record in France and Portugal clearly shows the danger this deal poses to Cablevision’s customers and employees,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor in a statement.  “Altice takes on too much debt, outsources as much work as possible and then downsizes its workforce.  Customers get worse service and employees lose their job.  Unless Altice makes commitments to protect customer service and Cablevision employees, the FCC should reject this deal.”

Altice agreed to purchase Cablevision in a deal announced in September and has said it expects to close the transaction in the first half of 2016. As part of the purchase, The European telecom company has said it will take on $8.6 billion in debt to finance the all-cash transaction. The union and Cablevision have had a contentious relationship over the past few years. The union was able to organize about 300 tech workers in Brooklyn earlier this year but failed in attempts to unionize Cablevision operations in the Bronx. Cablevision has about 13,656 total employees.

“Altice has a track record of investment, innovation and customer service in all the communities we serve. We look forward to a fair and open regulatory process in connection with our proposed Cablevision transaction, and as in all of our other territories we expect to deliver significant benefits to consumers and their communities in the Tri-state area,” Altice said in a statement

The CWA said coupled with Cablevision’s existing $5.9 billion in debt, it will force the combined company to initiate such deep cost cuts that “both staffing and network investments are likely to suffer, to the detriment of both consumers and workers.”

Altice has said that it plans to shave about $900 million in operating expenses from Cablevision after the deal, mainly by applying European-style business practices.  Several analysts and even one top cable executive have said in the past that squeezing that much from operations could be difficult. In its filing, the CWA said that will likely mean “significantly worse” customer service and pointed to a Deutsche Bank report that said in France Altice-owned Numericable-SFR lost 1.256 million mobile subscribers (5.4% of subscribers), 246,000 retail broadband subscribers (3.7% of subscribers), and 719,000 home connections (7.2% of subscribers) over the past year (3Q2014 to 3Q2015).

In addition, CWA said in France and Portugal two Altice companies were fined $410,000 each for not paying its contractors.

The CWA said it plans to weigh in with the New York State Public Service Commission, the New York City Franchise Concession Review Committee and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, all of whom will play a role in reviewing the deal. 

A day after their union reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with Cablevision Systems, 262 cable company technicians ratified the pact by a strong margin.

The workers ratified the pact at a special meeting Feb. 14 at the Brooklyn headquarters of the Communications Workers of America, Local 1109. The contract was the first the workers had signed since agreeing to be represented by the union in 2012 and make them the first Cablevision employees to have union representation.

“We are glad to have these contentious negotiations behind us, and now we look forward to our employees continued efforts to provide the best connectivity and service to Cablevision's Brooklyn customers,” Cablvision said in a statement, adding that the company has maintained the flexibility to apply its new performance-based standards to its Brooklyn employees, ensuring the same level of service for all Cablevision customers across the company’s entire service territory. .

Cablevision and Local 1109 said they had reached a tentative agreement on Friday,  ending what had been a three-year battle. According to the CWA, the new contract goes into effect on March 1 and includes substantial wage increases for the Brooklyn workers (bringing them to 96% wage parity with Cablevision workers throughout the rest of the company); allows for a three-step grievance and arbitration procedure, providing for independent arbitration disputes under contract; stipulates that employees can only be disciplined or discharged for “just cause;” gives workers in Brooklyn the same health and 401(k) pension benefits as other Cablevision employees; and gives workers the right to post materials on a union bulletin board inside Cablevision garages in Brooklyn.

“We are looking forward to opening a new page in our relationship with management,” said CWA national vice president for CWA District One Chris Shelton, in a statement. “Our members stuck together for 3 years and in the end, persuaded Cablevision that a fair deal acceptable to management and labor was possible.  This is an historic achievement at Cablevision.” 

Said CWA Local 1109 president Tony Spina in a statement: “CWA members are proud of what we achieved working together, and that’s reflected in today’s vote.  While no contract is perfect, our members will receive solid raises, a strong benefits package, and a voice on the job,” said Spina. “This agreement begins a new chapter in the Cablevision – CWA relationship.”

After a three-year battle with the union, Cablevision Systems said it has reached a collective bargaining agreement with the Communications Workers of America, representing about 260 technicians in Brooklyn, N.Y. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a brief statement, Cablevision said the agreement is subject to ratification by its Brooklyn workers.

 “The collective bargaining agreement for our Brooklyn employees is balanced and fair and was hard-fought by both sides over many months,” Cablevision said in a statement. “With this agreement, our focus in Brooklyn will continue to be providing the best connectivity and service to Cablevision customers.”

Workers in Brooklyn voted for union representation in 2012, which touched off what has been a testy relationship between the CWA and the company. Even in announcing the bargaining agreement, Cablevision noted that nearly 15,000 of its other employees “enjoy a direct relationship with the company.”

The CWA said in a statement that details of the tentative agreement were being withheld pending a presentation to its members, which will occur at a ratification meeting for the contract scheduled for Saturday evening (Feb. 14).

“After a 37-month battle to win a contract, CWA looks forward to opening a new chapter in its relationship with Cablevision,” the union said in a statement.

Cablevision and the union have been at odds ever since Brooklyn workers voted for union representation in 2012. In 2013, the dispute heated up after Cablevision dismissed 22 workers for what the company said was their refusal to work and what the union claimed was tied directly to their union activities. Cablevision reinstated those workers shortly after they were first terminated.

In December, a federal administrative law judge ruled that Cablevision had violated some labor laws in its dealings with the union, but found the cable operator not guilty of a key charge that at the time the company hoped could help it in the fight to oust the union.

Apparently, both sides determined it was better to return to the negotiating table rather than keep the fight going.

Cablevision Systems has filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County against a former employee, Local 1109 of the Communications Workers of America, and senior union official Christopher Shelton, claiming the union representing technicians and dispatchers at its Brooklyn, New York location knowingly and repeatedly made false statements about the cable company.

The union denies the claims.

“This is just another in a string of baseless and frivolous lawsuits from Cablevision, which, like all the earlier ones, will be dismissed,” Shelton, Vice President of Communications Workers of America District 1, said in a statement. “Rather than stop the outrageous behavior at Cablevision and pay Brooklyn workers the same wages as other Cablevision employees, [CEO] James Dolan is again turning to expensive lawyers to try to intimidate workers and their allies. It's time for him to sit down and negotiate in good faith with Cablevision workers.”

According to the suit, Cablevision claims Local 1109 made “a series of false and malicious statements” about the company in connection to the termination of Jerome Thompson, a former Cablevision technician who was terminated by the company on Aug. 20. Cablevision claims Thompson was terminated due to “a years-long history of deliberate disregard for company policies,” and was not racially motivated, as the CWA has claimed.

The lawsuit is the latest salvo in what has been an ongoing battle between Cablevision and the union, ever since workers at the Brooklyn office voted for representation in 2012.  Earlier this month, Cablevision held an informal vote that it claimed showed a majority of workers in Brooklyn don’t want the union any more. The CWA countered that Cablevision has used strong-arm tactics to try to persuade workers to drop the union and claims the majority of workers continue to want representation.

According to the most recent suit, Cablevision claimed Thompson violated company policies in a number of instances, including showing up for work improperly dressed, refusing to accept a new company headset and throwing it on a desk in an aggressive manner, hitting a Cablevision building with a company vehicle and denting its garage doors with his ladder, sideswiping another Company vehicle in an avoidable accident. After being issued a final warning in March, Thompson continued to violate policy, Cablevision claimed, including using a company phone for personal use – he allegedly racked up charges 25 times more than the average worker and used 4,303 minutes of talk time in April 2014, compared to the average worker’s 184 minutes of usage. Thompson also is accused of playing loud music in his car and disrupting company events, and referring to the company’s treatment of employees to “America’s historical treatment of slaves” at a company branding and marketing meeting.

After Thompson was terminated, Cablevision claims the union passed out flyers during an event on Sept. 18 hosted by Dolan – most likely a concert at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 18, where his band – JD & The Straight Shot – was opening for The Eagles. According to the suit, the flyers stated that Cablevision had fired an employee for “talking about slavery” and had rewarded another employee for using a racially insensitive term.    

 “The CWA union is knowingly disseminating false and defamatory statements in an attempt to negatively impact Cablevision’s business and damage the reputation of the company and its employees,” Cablevision said in a statement. “The CWA’s desperate campaign is designed to spread lies and misinformation to Cablevision’s customers, elected officials and the public at large. It is clear that the CWA will stop at nothing to advance its selfish interests and we are asking the Court to put an immediate halt to their unlawful and malicious activities.”

The battle for the hearts and minds of 264 Cablevision Systems field technicians and dispatchers in Brooklyn continued Thursday, after the cable company said a non-binding vote proves workers at the site no longer want union representation, while union officials claim the company is using strong-arm tactics to intimidate employees.

Cablevision workers in Brooklyn have been represented by Local 1109 of the Communications Workers of America since 2012,  but the relationship has been a rocky one. Months after its Brooklyn workers decided to unionize, Cablevision sued the CWA in state Supreme Court in New York, claiming the union defamed it by making false statements regarding the cable operator’s service. In 2013, Cablevision said several employees had petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to decertify the union, a move the CWA said was made to cover up the illegal firing of 22 workers at the location for airing grievances. Cablevision, which said the employees refused to work, reinstated them about a month later.

Cablevision said that on Sept. 10, Brooklyn workers in an anonymous poll conducted by independent third party The Honest Ballot Association, voted 129-115 against union representation, the first time a clear vote on the matter has been conducted since 2012. Cablevision claimed about 93% of total workers at the facility turned out for the vote.

While the Sept. 10 vote will have no effect on union certification – only an NLRB sanctioned vote could do that – it throws another spotlight on what has been a hot button issue in the borough for years. Workers at the Cablevision facility have been without a contract since certifying the union nearly three years ago and the ongoing fight has drawn in politicians from around the area – current New York Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the unionization efforts when he was Public Advocate for the city. The CWA supported de Blasio in his successful run for Mayor in 2013.

“For the first time in nearly three years, our Brooklyn employees have expressed their feelings about the CWA in a vote,” Cablevision said in a statement. “Yesterday, they rejected continued CWA representation.  It is time for the CWA to respect our employees’ wishes and withdraw.  In addition, Mayor de Blasio is repaying a political debt to the CWA and the Working Families Party, and is advocating the union’s agenda against the wishes of our employees.  Mayor de Blasio should tell the CWA and his political friends to stop blocking our employees’ rights.  We call upon the Mayor, the Working Families Party and the CWA to act promptly and allow our Brooklyn employees’ voices to prevail.”

Brooklyn is the only Cablevision unit represented by a union – the CWA unsuccessfully tried to unionize workers in the Bronx in June 2012. Cablevision has about 14,000 total employees.

While Cablevision claims a majority of workers want the union out, The CWA points to a June 2103 advertisement in the New York Daily News where 174 workers reaffirmed their support of the union and petitions individually signed by 189 workers sent to Cablevision CEO James Dolan two months ago stating their desire to stick with the union.

“The only election that matters happened almost three years ago when Cablevision workers voted 180-86 to join CWA in an election supervised by the Federal government,” said CWA District One vise president Chris Shelton in a statement. “Today’s [Sept. 10] vote was illegal because it was conducted under the cloud of multiple Unfair Labor Practices that are being adjudicated by the National Labor Relations Board and make it impossible to conduct a fair and free election.  Under no circumstances would the NLRB permit this type of election to take place.  No union observers were involved.  There was no security in the vote count.  This bogus sham was a waste of time and money. What’s really needed is for James Dolan to sit down and bargain a fair contract that includes equal pay with other Cablevision employees.”