Thread regarding Charter Communications Inc. layoffs

What is the real issue here. I used to work here. I’m going to tell you . Management is on D–gS. Yes Avp And Evp d–g parties. A good ole boys country club. They steal from their own company. Lack of employee education is another problem. They take advantage of you. Get a STRONG union
8-10, 10-12, 12-2, 2-4. Where’s lunch. Contractors don’t get breaks or lunch. NYS Labor board paid off and free cable to look the other way. True.
And then I won’t name the brain surgeon that came up with 1 hour windows. Bravo. Employment by fear. Take a close look at Rutledge, you can tell he belts down the Scotch- Single Malt right Tom. He went crying to John Malone with a tear in his eye to loan him the money to buy TWC. TRUTH HURTS!!!

This s—s it's Veterans Day and those greedy corporate bean counters are forcing us to work while they all stayed at home. Hearing big layoffs on the way here in Northern New England especially Maine and New Hampshire!

Spectrum just shut down Melbourne FL and Deland FL. Quoting GVP Spectrum doesn’t care about it’s people, we’re a numbers company. 300 plus staff out of work.

Several technicians have been fired in the south region for breaking rules that have been instated as recently as April.

This, coupled with the lack of productive work and no new hires, leads me to believe something much larger is coming.

Charter NYC is going down....NOT

The union d0pes think the city will build a network or buy out Charter's crown jewel NYC cable system.

https://www.coworker.org/petitions/new-york-cable-system-worker-cooperative

They let hundreds go in Cincinnati and Columbus

Yes Cablevision tactics but I can say that a few of the scabs that left Altice are begging to come back. SMH 🤦‍♂️

They are using all the tactics they have used in cablevision, same staff, They hire people that are against unions , same playbook same staff from cablevision, unions take notice the rats are infiltrating your foundation

NYC WAREHOUSE LAYOFFS

Charter spectrum plans on closing warehouses all over NYC and NE ny. The plan is to outsource all the jobs to a company know as CTDI which pays there employees minimum wage with no benefits and represents a modern day sweat shop. Not only close to 2/3rds of the employees will be laid off but this is the thanks they give the employees for supporting them during the local 3 strike. Company claimed to bring 20k more jobs to the United States but let the same amount of people go out the back door. SOMEONE FROM THE GOVERNMENT MUST STEP IN AND STOP THIS CORPARATE SCANDAL.

Come on Charter , forget the severance package b.s and give them there jobs back,greedy pricks.

Spectrum Charter lays off 200 in Palm Desert 5-17-2017 - post ...

It’s true. Most IT staff (AS400 programmers, computer operators, testers, database analysts, and contractors as well as finance staff including Credit Collections and banking services have been told they will be laid off once the Hawaii billing system conversion is complete, sometime early to mid 2019. This is on top of layoffs in marketing, sales, and playback department. Once a respectable and top employer in Hawaii, not anymore! Morale is very low.

Hawaii layoffs - post regarding Spectrumlayoffs

There's really no point in arguing with scabs and their sympathizers. They will temporarily enjoy the "great" job they have, but the same greed that caused the current situation (cutting pension and union health care) is the same that will force cut backs and layoffs demanding more and more until there is nothing left. Time tells the same story, and you will get what you deserve. Scabs who remain at Charter will know why their jobs s--- in 5-10 years, and they won't have ANYBODY to advocate for them.

To all Local 3 cheerleaders, you seem to be so locked in it begs the question, what would it take for you to admit that Local 3 no longer deserves blind support? It's 2 year strike failed. It tried every dirty trick in the book and it failed to stop the company from walking away from expensive union perks in the old contract. Local 3 has one main purpose, protect job security of members. It screwed up in negotiations when it said it would never agree to the company's final offer. Huge mistake. That's what gave the company the legal right to implement its final offer. The NLRB agreed. You can still hate the company, your choice. But the blind support of the union despite the total cluster#$@! of the strike and negotiations makes you look incapable of independent thought.

Having an exit plan is one thing. Actually finding a buyer with billions to buy the systems in another. Either way Charter wins and Local 3 members lose !

If you moved on like you said you did and dont work for the company, then why are you so hell bent on getting Techs to vote agaisnt the Union, it is plain as day what side you are and if you moved on like you said you did why do you care so much are you afraid the Union will win and get stuff you wont be able to get also get your facts straight as you are talking plain nonesense.

To Local 3 members still on strike or who gave up and moved on, you may not be happy with the company but you know in your hearts the union screwed you. Local 3 has always known Charter would not agree to keep expensive union perks from old contracts. Free benefits for life and union pensions are worth fighting for until it is clear the fight is lost. Most companies negotiated them away years ago. You were thrown under the bus by the union in a losing battle. This fight was lost before it started.

You know damn well Local 3 caused all those outages. And you know damn well you're still out on strike. What guarantees has local 3 given you on paper? They cant guarantee you anything. Sh-- you guys were union and STILL LOST your jobs because of Local 3. Everything they promise you still has to be hashed out with the company. Look what happened to yall. On strike for 2 years.

You were at the outages in the beginning? You mean the ones that took two days to repair because you didn’t know what you were doing?

As for my name, you know damn well if I post it I will be fired tomorrow. You on the other hand are managers dream tech even though you are most likely a manager trying to scare us.

If you were a tech you would know damn well that while we smile and act like we are voting to decertify simply to keep from being fired.

Also, if you remember Cablevision, soon after they got their way they laid off many. But this is what you are fighting to scare us into voting for.

What guarantee has the company given you in writing that we will keep our jobs after the vote? Why do they have to put it in writing if we become At Will employees that can be let go at their discretion?

The fact that you ignore all these points definitely pegs you to be management, supervisor or an outside entity hired to bust the union.

No tech I have met has as strong of an opinion as you do for management and against the union.

As stated many times, stop pretending you are a tech and more important, stop acting as if you speak for all techs. You know that is not the case.

Back in the 90s we tried to unionize cablevision. They were having a vote at the sheraton hotel. Union brothers from all divisions of local 3 were outside to show support. Cablevision offered the techs 3000 to 5000 dollars in bonuses. They voted down the union and were giving us the finger through the window. Two years later I’m in costco and I recognize one of the workers as one of the guys that gave us the finger. I stopped and asked him if he once worked for cablevision. He said in fact he had. I reminded him who I was and he apologized and said that was a huge mistake. He said he and his coworkers were blindsided by the money. I asked why he wasnt working there. He said within 2 months after the vote a large group were laid off. Again he said it was a huge mistake. I wished him well and went on my way. Don’t be blindsided by the money. Do you think there was a 5 year plan to break the union because they want to give you more?

The problems weren't systematic. The problem is you guys had no idea what you were doing. Didn't know how to balance nodes, amps, le's. All you did was change the tap of the customer who was having an issue with no regards to what it did to the rest of the run. No knowledge of how to chase noise on the run. Then all you did was blame the equipment for your lack of workmanship and knowledge. Your fiber enclosure workmanship is even worse. Every can looks like a bomb went off in them. What local 3 did to this system was an abomination.

Local 3 has wished death, illness, wrongful doing upon myself and not family for crossing the line and providing for my family. Stalked techs out in the field, at their homes. Now the decertification looms around the corner and im suppose to believe Local 3 has my back? I've seen what you've done for "1800" members out on strike.

Unions negotiate a contract that has wage increases per year or with progression. The only ones that can slow that down is management. A union has no control over who get promotions or choosen to progress. Every progression is signed off by management. In the past management would use the flawed metric system the same metric system that penalized technicians for faulty equipment that charter settled with the AG and changed the numbers they were looking for in order to grant progression. Without a union & subcontracting clause charter will look to outsource more and more work creating more and more layoffs.

For those who cannot see the truth before you, there was a plan going back as far as 2012 to break the union. Yes before charter but most of the same players. There is an internal memo that states, just that. Their intentions is for you to be at will employees. Corporate greed is killing the american work force. Do you think the 98 million dollar man cares about your livelihood and your family. It will all come down to the bottom line. Except when they eliminate you, you will not be given a 50 million dollar parachute upon exiting. Unions helped make working class middle class. Do you think if left to their devices corporate America will continue that path. I do not think so and you know better. Yes unions are not perfect. Nothing in life is. However unions continue to be the only protection workers have. Are you going to depend on H.R. to protect you?

What is being missed here is the fact that sometimes unions lose when they strike. That clearly happened here. The union tried every trick in the union playbook, including political pressure and wasting $3 million of members' dues on a failed boycott. All this talk of the good old days of free medical benefits for life is not going to change the fact that those days are over. Other unions fought changes like this, including other IBEW locals, and when they realized it was a losing battle, they reluctantly agreed to concessions in new union contracts. They took decertification off the table. Not Local 3. They screwed strikers by fighting a losing battle way too long. All the talk about what the company will do after the decert is fear mongering. Many of the techs who want to decertify are not union haters. They see that Local 3 played this wrong and lost. They may very will seek a different union after Local 3 is gone if they are not happy with how things turn out without a union. If the company is so hell bent on avoiding unions, why would it take actions that would only guarantee another union in one year?

The truth of the matter is if unions go away, then corporations and businesses will take everything they can from all workers. They have no conscience, no empathy, and only see numbers.

Unions have been the path for many to enjoy a decent middle-class life. A hard working person should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and not have to go to college to deserve a living wage. Shame on Charter/Spectrum.

They actually were trying to keep our benefits. Our pension. Our health plan. Our annuity plan. Our education fund. Most of all, they were trying to stop the harassment from management due to their unfair metric system.

I wish I didn’t have to cross but I had to take care of my family. What is true is the fact that since I came back, I see management treats a lot of techs worse than prior, and if you are an original Spectrum tech it is even worse.

Unfortunately you fear fighting for better benefits and will settle for what management tells you to settle for. A typical yes man who believes unions are evil just for the sake of believing it.

You fail to understand that we used to pay around $28 a month which provided me and my family with healthcare, a pension, and an annuity fund. The later of the two to help build towards retirement. On top of that, we had a 401k with a company match and an HRA fund, up to $5000 to cover medical expenses such as pr-scrip-ions or any other health expense.

Also had an education fund to further our education if we so chose to as well as scholarships for our children.

So were the local 3 techs on strike mad at those of us who crossed? Absolutely. I can only assume you don’t believe in fighting for your livelihood and would simply lay down and take it the way management tells you to take it.

You were not here at the time or maybe you were as a manager, but there was a time when management had pensions and their medical was a b--cheaper. When the higher ups came in and said those managers no longer get pensions and their medical was going up all you heard was all the managers crying foul. Not one of them was brave enough to stand up and fight nor did they have the backing to fight because they were not union. They also did not fight because they knew if they spoke up they would be eliminated. Fear. It was fear that stopped them much like fear has you fighting in favor of the company.

At the end of the day whether you are a manager or really a tech, you are just a number and the company could care less about you.

Keep fighting for them and you will one day regret it when you realize they used you and made you weak with the fear to fight for more instead of accepting less.

pro local 3 guys who came back to work, that's pretty dumb to keep local 3 here. What'd they do for you. Let you go on strike for 2 years? Threaten you guys when you came back? Get rid of these mo--ns and get a new union in another year if its so bad. It's simple. You're stuck in a rut until local 3 is out. There's no doubt about it at all.

The only reason they are overpaying us is to get rid of the union. To management it is a cost of doing business..Breaking the union will save them plenty long term. They only overpay because they need the troops in this war.

Imagine if every cable tech was union in NYC and surrounding counties! Where would they get their strike force? Out of state contractors they would have to put up in hotels and pay meal allowances?

Oh right..thats what Verizon had to do 2 years ago. And look at how that went. Those people won their strike. And now those guys have a contract until 2023!

Too bad we all bought into the BS.. We ALL would have benefited from being union across this city.

Think about it.. Where would the strike breakers come? From way down south.. It would have been a disaster.. Instead our neighbors (NYC+around) are the ones who caused this strike at Spectrum to last so long..

So sad.. we are being played.

If local 3 gets voted out (and charter is licking their lips at this prospect) you will hear a s---ing sound....

The sound of wages and benefits going down the tubes..

Just look across the country at other charter areas.. what do THEY get? The answer is obvious.

Once they have complete unchecked control- will this be a job worth having anymore? Sh-- minimum wage is $15 per hour for a lot less b---s--- then a $17 hour starting salary dealing with this c-ap.

Any predictions what happens when there is no more union?

My prediction: The $45 hour fantasy land salary will disappear over the next 12 months. Some how some way.. Firings, demotions, etc.. They aint interested in paying this much with no union strike.. Supply and demand. The striking workers have a right to come back.. Sh-- they may replace YOU!

I actually overheard my manager on a conference call where he was explaining how he was keeping us in check and believed he convinced us to vote to decertify. Not sure who was speaking but they did mention preparing to give a lot more work to city connect.

I don’t know about anyone else but I am pretty sure we are screwed if we all vote to decertify. I think I am going to take my chances here and vote against decertification. These are the same id--ts we worked for at Altice. Not sure why people are buying into their BS again. Those of us who came over to cablevision 2.0 know that this management is slime and does not hold our best interest. They proved themselves once, let’s not let them prove it again and get screwed by their terrible leadership.

Actually i was on the strike line and had to cross and when I did I did have to reapply and was not placed in my original position. I was told I had to work my way back up to that spot even though I worked in it for 10+ years.

I will say, I was not a fan of the union but I can see what not having one has done. Maybe it is because I am an original Time Warner guy and not a altice tech, but I am definitely being talked down to by management.

I don’t think it is a Time Warner thing though because even some of the altice guys are telling me that the managers that came over from altice are even worse then they were back in altice.

I remember my old manager before the strike telling us to be careful because they were looking to contract everything out which they actually did start doing. He said the ultimate company goal was to do away with in house techs so they could cut operating costs by not having to pay for benefits, vehicles, tools, gas, etc....

Unfortunately we are in a tough spot. Do we vote to decertify and lose our jobs, or vote to keep a union and simply join them.

I know if the union wins this a lot of my former brothers and sisters may be mad at me but I think in time it will subside. And hopefully it will keep management from using their bully tactics and flawed metric system created to punish us. Good luck to all of us.

That’s an opinion about layoffs, not a fact. Just like any Tech 5 that crossed would be fired as soon as they did (didn’t happen). People had to reapply for their jobs (didn’t happen).

No one is forcing anyone to work for Charter. If you don’t like the company, their practices, or whatever, leave. Nothing is stopping anyone. Why all the drama about rumors being spread? Sometimes the gossip is worse than high school!

Come to work, do your job, get paid.

Pending union decertification in New York City, corporate plans on contracting more work out in the first quarter of 2019. Company will cut workforce by laying off between 600 and 800 field techs and have the remainder reapply for their positions at salaries between $15 to $33, most to be hired at the lower end. Altice created ATS which is an all contractor workforce. Spectrum is exploring this work model which would decrease operating expenses and show increase to profits. Techs will be transitioned to this new entity and will be notified in advance of the changes to their benefits plans as they benefit package will change. There will be a decrease in company contribution to 401k while the new entity starts up. Employees may see increases in their health care contributions which the company launches it's new entity.

Doubling down on newly onboarded employees with anti union videos, as part of their intro training , soooo funny, if you have problems at work HR is always open, so they say, lol

This call center in ST Petersburg, FL, needs an Union ASAP

Given the fact that they're closing the majority of open job reqs, it seems likely that there will be layoffs when that "strategy" fails.