August 4, 2017
The Legal Services Staff Association has issued the following resolution in support of striking IBEW Local 3 Families:
WHEREAS, in 2013, IBEW Local 3 reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable that was ratified and expired in April, 2017. The union has been working under an expired agreement and accused TWC and Charter of refusing to bargain with them for more than two years, provoking the labor walkout at the end of March 28, 2017 in order to break out union, and;
WHEREAS, Charter wants to eliminate Pension and Hospitalization plan contribution, which would end workers’ Joint Board Medical and Joint Board Pension, as well as Annuity/HRA contributions, Dental, and the Company 401k, and;
WHEREAS, Charter wants to eliminate the Subcontracting Clause which will allow them to lay off employees of the company even if outside contractors are being used. Charter wants the right to subcontract out service and all bargaining unit work, and to eliminate bargaining unit shifts and create shifts at their discretion at any time, and;
WHEREAS, Charter wants to eliminate overtime pay, as well as Social Security (FICA) which is an additional 7.65% taken from workers’ salaries, and;
WHEREAS, Charter wants to assign any employee regardless of seniority to any work location, in the five boroughs and New Jersey, at their discretion if they give 2 weeks’ notice, and;
WHEREAS, Charter/Spectrum’s main Infrastructure cannot handle the speeds the company was promising, and the company uses faulty metrics to unfairly discipline technicians, and;
WHEREAS, Charter/Spectrum is in violation of the NYC Franchise Agreement. The company has brought in out of state workers from as far as California to do work here in NYC, spending millions to set them up in area hotels. The company has also not performed background checks on these workers that they are allowing into the homes of our NYC residents, and;
WHEREAS, IBEW Local 3 members have been on strike for over three months now and are facing immediate financial hardship because of their loss of income, including home foreclosure, utility shutoffs, auto repossession, and even the basic ability to feed their families, and;
WHEREAS, the strike can be won through widespread support and solidarity from the rest of the labor movement, if organized and marshaled effectively,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legal Services Staff Association of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320 extends our solidarity to IBEW Local 3 and demands that Charter/Spectrum bargain in good faith.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legal Services Staff Association of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, UAW 2320 will contribute $300 towards the “Spectrum Striking Families Hardship Fund” to help those Spectrum families in desperate need.