Workers Demand Altice Stop Outsourcing Westchester Jobs
Several Altice employees and members of the Westchester County Board of Legislators were among those who gathered in front of the county office building in White Plains on Sept. 23 to protest the company’s outsourcing of some of its jobs.
The participants shouted slogans including “Altice – bring back the jobs” and “What do you want – our jobs” at the press conference.
Altice is a cable television provider with headquarters in Long Island City. The company delivers pay television, Internet access, telephone services and original television content to customers throughout the US.
Altice workers in Westchester have recently become part of the Communications Workers of America Local 1130. CWA Local 1103 President Kevin Sheil said the participants were seeking to have Altice provide its Westchester employees with the jobs protections provided to its Brooklyn employees and stop outsourcing Westchester jobs. “One of the top priorities of any legitimate union” is to fight for good middle class jobs, he said. “It is long been a cornerstone of CWA’s efforts to protect the rights of all workers not just union workers,” he said. “We have seen across all industries how the race to the bottom subcontracting has devastated communities with job loss and customer service issues.”
Sheil said Altice has an agreement with the state Public Service Commission that includes “specific protections against layoffs along with customer service and broadband access requirements.” The company has eliminated more than 200 middle class jobs in Westchester and a total of about 1,000 in the tristate area, he said. The jobs have been shifted to lower skilled and paid contract workers, he said.
The transfer of Altice jobs to contract workers hurts Westchester’s economy and threatens the quality of service, Sheil said. “Altice has systematically eliminated good middle class jobs in order to make a quick buck,” he said. “If Altice continues to treat Westchester’s workers and customers as second class citizens we will look to the New York State Public Service Commission to carry on its review of Altice’s compliance with requirements made under their agreement.”
Altice field technician Jonathan Carter, who lives in Wappingers Falls, said he has been employed by the company for 13 years and for the past three years he has been part of the company’s splicing project working out of Hawthorne. “In those last three years I’ve seen our workforce go from 300 plus workers down to 130 to 120,” he said. The job cuts came after Altice purchased Cablevision in 2016, he said. “It seems like our work is being contracted out more than ever before. When I say that job security is our number one issue I believe I speak for all of my brothers and sisters that work for Altice,” Carter said.
County Board of Legislators Chairman Ben Boykin (D-White Plains) said the legislators who attended the press conference were standing with the CWA local and other union members in attendance. “We have your back,” Boykin said. “We on the Board of Legislators when we see an injustice we’re there to stand with you. And what we want for the Altice workers is the same security and the same pay that they’re getting in Brooklyn.”
Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, said, “In our society we have seen this race to the bottom where corporate profits matter more than people having a decent living wage. Where we are trying to get services on the cheap where we place workers in danger, where people get hurt on the job or have to leave the job because the physical demands are too much, where they’re being asked to do the work of three workers who did it in the past. I am all for efficiency but I don’t think it happens at a human cost.”
On Monday, Altice released this statement in response to last week’s press conference: “Altice is steadfast in its commitment to providing customers in Westchester and the entire tri-state area with the best products and a great overall experience as evidenced by investments in our Altice One entertainment platform, newly launched Altice Mobile service, state-of-the-art fiber network deployment, and more. We are currently in negotiations with the CWA and committed to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement that provides for our employees while ensuring the company can continue to succeed in today’s competitive landscape. We have offered the CWA terms that are consistent with current collective bargaining agreements for our other represented employees, and we will continue to negotiate in good faith.”
