Labor, Allies Block DISH-DIRECTV Merger

CWA locals in New York City and San Jose, Calif., Teamsters in Philadelphia and Electrical Workers in Topeka, Kansas have mobilized behind an AFL-CIO boycott of direct broadcast TV provider DISH Network/ EchoStar, in support of bargaining for nearly 200 DISH workers.

Jobs with Justice, a coalition of student, religious, consumer and community activists, spread news of the boycott in numerous other locations.

The AFL-CIO placed DISH/EchoStar on its national boycott list in September. The unions and Jobs with Justice leafleted outside Radio Shack and some Sears stores in at least 10 cities.

“We had people who were considering buying DISH Network, but after taking the flier they said they’d buy DIRECTV instead,” said Organizer Josh Sperry of Local 9423 in San Jose. He and DISH technician Jaime Trejo, who was fired after an organizing drive at DISH’s Hayward, Calif. site, leafleted a Sears store with three other workers.

Bob Morrow, Local 1101 organizer in New York City, met in bargaining with DISH/EchoStar management Oct. 14 and 15, trading proposals but making no progress. Local 1101 organized the largest CWA group of DISH workers in May 2001 and has bargained only sporadically since then with little success.

IBEW leaders from the Topeka unit, still waiting to bargain for DISH workers they represent, sat in on the session. “They said they’ve bargained quite a few contracts, and they’ve never seen anybody stonewall like this,” Morrow said. New tentative bargaining dates were set for Nov. 19 and 20.

The Federal Communications Commission brought additional pressure to bear on Oct. 10, voting 4-0 to block as anti-competitive the proposed $26 billion merger of DISH/EchoStar and Hughes’ DIRECTV.

“The combination of EchoStar and DIRECTV would have us replace a vibrant competitve market with a regulated monopoly,” FCC Chairman Michael Powell told CBS MarketWatch. “This flies in the face of three decades of communications policy that has sought ways to eliminate the need for regulation by fostering greater competition.”

DISH/EchoStar employs about 3,000 workers nationwide, Morrow said.