CWA Keeps Up Pressure on Altice-Cablevision

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 Public Service Commission. 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 2015 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 telecommunication company Altice’s $17.7 billion all-cash purchase of Bethpage (NY)-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.