Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
CWA Joins Outcry Against DISH Network-DIRECTV Merger
More than 100 protesters from a coalition of grassroots organizations rallied Sept. 4 outside the doors of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., predicting wide-scale harm to consumers and a major political backlash if a $26 billion merger of DIRECTV and EchoStar’s DISH Network is approved.
CWAers joined the spirited crowd of activists, representing consumers, rural families, agriculture and business in loud chants of “Dish the merger.” Activists decried not only the anticompetitive aspects of the proposed merger, but also the union busting tactics of DISH Network against CWA members in San Francisco and New York and against DISH workers represented by other unions in Kansas and Pennsylvania.
“If this merger goes through, rural areas without cable TV will have only one choice for video programming,” said George Kohl, assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr. “Consumers in all other U.S. households will have only two choices — the cable monopoly or the satellite monopoly.”
Kohl said further that DISH Network has retaliated against technicians in Long Island, N.Y., who voted for CWA representation in May 2001, following a bitter anti-union campaign by the company.
Local 1108 Organizer Bob Morrow said that out of about 60 technicians who voted for CWA last May, only a third remain in the unit. CWA filed more than 20 unfair labor practice charges ranging from firing workers who supported the union, to failure to recognize the union, refusing to bargain, failing to provide information requested in bargaining and engaging in surface bargaining. The NLRB ruled in CWA’s favor on all but three of the charges.
“Still, after all these charges have been sustained, we haven’t been to the bargaining table since April,” Morrow said. “We had dates for September, but they just called and cancelled. They’ve given us two more dates in October. Now we’ll see if they cancel them.”
In the Bay Area, 66 workers signed petitions for an election last spring. The NLRB split the workers into four units and the company mounted a vicious antiunion campaign, CWA Local 9423 Organizer Josh Sperry said.
Jaime Trego, a DISH technician in Hayward, Calif., attended weekly meetings the company called during the campaign and refuted managements’ attempts to convince workers that management — not the union — would determine whether they got raises.
“They went through and tried to fire everyone they knew was pro-union,” Trego said, adding that management stacked the unit by hiring workers who couldn’t produce a Social Security card or had suspended drivers’ licenses, allowing them to work as long as they supported the company.
When the two units of DISH workers in Hayward voted on May 29, the support workers voted 8-2 for CWA representation. The installers lost their election 16-18, with three challenged ballots. The other two Bay Area units withdrew their petitions, Sperry said.
Trego was fired after the election. CWA filed unfair labor charges concerning his and other workers’ dismissals, which were to be heard by the NLRB on Sept. 23.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) joined CWA in condemning the
monopoly character of the proposed merger, pointing out that more than 145 members of Congress and 17 senators have expressed serious concerns.
“Satellite technology is the key to high-speed Internet access for education and economic development in large sections of the country,” Cannon said. “If this merger is allowed, one company will dominate digital services in rural America. That will mean declining customer service, higher prices, inferior programming and stifled innovation.”
The rally was coordinated by the National Consumers League. Other participants included the Missouri Electric Cooperatives, American Council of the Blind, the National Action Network and the National Association of Broadcasters.
CWAers joined the spirited crowd of activists, representing consumers, rural families, agriculture and business in loud chants of “Dish the merger.” Activists decried not only the anticompetitive aspects of the proposed merger, but also the union busting tactics of DISH Network against CWA members in San Francisco and New York and against DISH workers represented by other unions in Kansas and Pennsylvania.
“If this merger goes through, rural areas without cable TV will have only one choice for video programming,” said George Kohl, assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr. “Consumers in all other U.S. households will have only two choices — the cable monopoly or the satellite monopoly.”
Kohl said further that DISH Network has retaliated against technicians in Long Island, N.Y., who voted for CWA representation in May 2001, following a bitter anti-union campaign by the company.
Local 1108 Organizer Bob Morrow said that out of about 60 technicians who voted for CWA last May, only a third remain in the unit. CWA filed more than 20 unfair labor practice charges ranging from firing workers who supported the union, to failure to recognize the union, refusing to bargain, failing to provide information requested in bargaining and engaging in surface bargaining. The NLRB ruled in CWA’s favor on all but three of the charges.
“Still, after all these charges have been sustained, we haven’t been to the bargaining table since April,” Morrow said. “We had dates for September, but they just called and cancelled. They’ve given us two more dates in October. Now we’ll see if they cancel them.”
In the Bay Area, 66 workers signed petitions for an election last spring. The NLRB split the workers into four units and the company mounted a vicious antiunion campaign, CWA Local 9423 Organizer Josh Sperry said.
Jaime Trego, a DISH technician in Hayward, Calif., attended weekly meetings the company called during the campaign and refuted managements’ attempts to convince workers that management — not the union — would determine whether they got raises.
“They went through and tried to fire everyone they knew was pro-union,” Trego said, adding that management stacked the unit by hiring workers who couldn’t produce a Social Security card or had suspended drivers’ licenses, allowing them to work as long as they supported the company.
When the two units of DISH workers in Hayward voted on May 29, the support workers voted 8-2 for CWA representation. The installers lost their election 16-18, with three challenged ballots. The other two Bay Area units withdrew their petitions, Sperry said.
Trego was fired after the election. CWA filed unfair labor charges concerning his and other workers’ dismissals, which were to be heard by the NLRB on Sept. 23.
Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) joined CWA in condemning the
monopoly character of the proposed merger, pointing out that more than 145 members of Congress and 17 senators have expressed serious concerns.
“Satellite technology is the key to high-speed Internet access for education and economic development in large sections of the country,” Cannon said. “If this merger is allowed, one company will dominate digital services in rural America. That will mean declining customer service, higher prices, inferior programming and stifled innovation.”
The rally was coordinated by the National Consumers League. Other participants included the Missouri Electric Cooperatives, American Council of the Blind, the National Action Network and the National Association of Broadcasters.