Oakland Comcast Workers Beat Back Intense Decert Attack

Comcast pulled out all the stops to try to throw the union out in Oakland, Calif., but a determined inside committee mobilized workers to beat back a management-instigated union decertification campaign.

The cable workers voted 50 to 40 for continued representation by Local 9415 in an election on Wednesday.

Comcast fielded five levels of management personnel, including a regional vice president, to work the employees over in a textbook intimidation effort, reported Local Organizer Yonah Diamond.  "They took crews out for breakfast and lunch every week and held captive audience meetings to bash the union nearly every day," he said.

About 20 percent of the unit had been hired within the last year, and Comcast carefully indoctrinated them with its anti-union line from day one, according to Diamond.

"I can't say enough about the inside committee.  They worked hard and were extremely effective in communicating with each member and countering the lies and pressure tactics" from the managers, he said.

Had the vote gone the other way, CWA would have had many unfair labor practice charges to file against the company.  The local had evidence that Comcast was directly behind the decertification filing – a violation of labor law.  And among Comcast's dirty tricks, managers falsely told workers that to be eligible to vote, they would need a California driver's license.

Said District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler: "We are inspired by the determination of these members to defend their bargaining rights in the face of daily management coercion and a professional union-breaking strategy.  The campaigns we've seen here in California by anti-union corporations like Comcast and Verizon are case studies in what American workers confront these days," he said, referring also to the struggle by Verizon DSL workers to unionize in Long Beach (see this related story).