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Comcast Forum Makes Case for Employee Free Choice Act
Nearly 400 union members and other citizens turned out for a July 11 forum in Pittsburgh to hear Comcast workers talk about years of struggling to organize and bargain.
Their stories, speakers said, are why the Employee Free Choice Act is essential for all Americans.
"It's very heartening to see that no matter what the company does to them, these workers will fight to have a union. They keep coming on strong," said CWA President Morton Bahr, one of the union and political leaders who spoke.
Those joining Bahr included Vince Maisano, former District 13 vice president who is Bahr's special assistant for Comcast organizing; Donald C. Siegel, IBEW 3rd District international vice president; and Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), an Employee Free Choice Act co-sponsor.
CWA, Jobs with Justice, IBEW, the state AFL-CIO and the Allegheny Central Labor Council organized the forum.
Bahr applauded the courageous and determined Comcast workers, including 118 in Dallas who recently chose CWA in a National Labor Relations Board election. He noted that more than 450 Comcast workers in Pennsylvania, organized
three years ago, still do not have a contract.
"The Dallas workers know how hard it will be to get a
contact," Bahr said. "They've seen this company's union-busting tactics, and they've seen what the workers here in Pennsylvania have been up against."
Maisano said Comcast's opposition to unions is philosophical rather than economic.
"To settle any of these contracts would not put any burden on Comcast," he said. "Instead, they want us to settle for less than what the unorganized have. They just don't want us to be able to say, 'look what we were able to do.' If we had the Employee Free Choice Act, Comcast couldn't do what it has been doing to us, fighting our organizing drives, and these workers would be guaranteed a first contract."
Doyle has joined the list of 194 House co-sponsors of the bipartisan legislation, H.R. 1696. His Republican colleague, Senator Arlen Specter, is one of the principal sponsors of the Senate version, S. 842, which had 38 co-sponsors in early August.
The Employee Free Choice Act would let workers choose a union through card check recognition, stiffen penalties for company interference in organizing drives, and call for mediation and binding arbitration in first-contract disputes.
Kevin Beallis, an IBEW steward and Comcast service technician in Chicago, noted that after Comcast acquired AT&T in 2002, nonunion workers were offered Comcast services at a discount.
"They said that because we were part of the bargaining unit, discounted services would have to be negotiated," he said. " We were being discriminated against because of our union affiliation." His bargaining unit has not had a contract since 1999.
Ed Martin, a service technician at Comcast in Beaver Falls, Pa., until last September, took part in three organizing drives. He was fired for a minor infraction of Comcast's rules that was overlooked in workers who were not pro-union.
He described one of Comcast's strategies for pitting worker against worker: "They required new computerized tests in an attempt to weed out older workers, and used the threat of layoffs as a way of scaring the younger workers into not wanting a union."
Curt Hess works for Comcast in Plum, Pa., where he and co-workers formed a union in 2001 under a neutrality agreement CWA negotiated with AT&T. After beating back a decertification attempt by handily winning a second representation election, his unit is still fighting to secure a first contract.
Tracy Mower of CWA Local 13000 in Pittsburgh said his unit has been working without a contract for five years. Employees have had no raises but their health care costs have increased dramatically.
"This is why we need the Employee Free Choice Act," Mower said. "It's time for a change at Comcast."
Media coverage proved a major embarrassment for the company as the forum was broadcast in its entirety at least twice—inadvertently—by Comcast itself.
Pennsylvania Cable Network public affairs programming reaches 3 million viewers over stations operated by most of the state's cable TV companies. Comcast broadcasts PCN programming over 13 channels to 44 communities.
"Much of the bargaining unit saw it, as well as countless residents across the state. Comcast management was livid," said Marge Krueger, administrative assistant to District 13 Vice President Jim Short.
Their stories, speakers said, are why the Employee Free Choice Act is essential for all Americans.
"It's very heartening to see that no matter what the company does to them, these workers will fight to have a union. They keep coming on strong," said CWA President Morton Bahr, one of the union and political leaders who spoke.
Those joining Bahr included Vince Maisano, former District 13 vice president who is Bahr's special assistant for Comcast organizing; Donald C. Siegel, IBEW 3rd District international vice president; and Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), an Employee Free Choice Act co-sponsor.
CWA, Jobs with Justice, IBEW, the state AFL-CIO and the Allegheny Central Labor Council organized the forum.
Bahr applauded the courageous and determined Comcast workers, including 118 in Dallas who recently chose CWA in a National Labor Relations Board election. He noted that more than 450 Comcast workers in Pennsylvania, organized
three years ago, still do not have a contract.
"The Dallas workers know how hard it will be to get a
contact," Bahr said. "They've seen this company's union-busting tactics, and they've seen what the workers here in Pennsylvania have been up against."
Maisano said Comcast's opposition to unions is philosophical rather than economic.
"To settle any of these contracts would not put any burden on Comcast," he said. "Instead, they want us to settle for less than what the unorganized have. They just don't want us to be able to say, 'look what we were able to do.' If we had the Employee Free Choice Act, Comcast couldn't do what it has been doing to us, fighting our organizing drives, and these workers would be guaranteed a first contract."
Doyle has joined the list of 194 House co-sponsors of the bipartisan legislation, H.R. 1696. His Republican colleague, Senator Arlen Specter, is one of the principal sponsors of the Senate version, S. 842, which had 38 co-sponsors in early August.
The Employee Free Choice Act would let workers choose a union through card check recognition, stiffen penalties for company interference in organizing drives, and call for mediation and binding arbitration in first-contract disputes.
Kevin Beallis, an IBEW steward and Comcast service technician in Chicago, noted that after Comcast acquired AT&T in 2002, nonunion workers were offered Comcast services at a discount.
"They said that because we were part of the bargaining unit, discounted services would have to be negotiated," he said. " We were being discriminated against because of our union affiliation." His bargaining unit has not had a contract since 1999.
Ed Martin, a service technician at Comcast in Beaver Falls, Pa., until last September, took part in three organizing drives. He was fired for a minor infraction of Comcast's rules that was overlooked in workers who were not pro-union.
He described one of Comcast's strategies for pitting worker against worker: "They required new computerized tests in an attempt to weed out older workers, and used the threat of layoffs as a way of scaring the younger workers into not wanting a union."
Curt Hess works for Comcast in Plum, Pa., where he and co-workers formed a union in 2001 under a neutrality agreement CWA negotiated with AT&T. After beating back a decertification attempt by handily winning a second representation election, his unit is still fighting to secure a first contract.
Tracy Mower of CWA Local 13000 in Pittsburgh said his unit has been working without a contract for five years. Employees have had no raises but their health care costs have increased dramatically.
"This is why we need the Employee Free Choice Act," Mower said. "It's time for a change at Comcast."
Media coverage proved a major embarrassment for the company as the forum was broadcast in its entirety at least twice—inadvertently—by Comcast itself.
Pennsylvania Cable Network public affairs programming reaches 3 million viewers over stations operated by most of the state's cable TV companies. Comcast broadcasts PCN programming over 13 channels to 44 communities.
"Much of the bargaining unit saw it, as well as countless residents across the state. Comcast management was livid," said Marge Krueger, administrative assistant to District 13 Vice President Jim Short.