IBEW Mega-Local 21 Pickets Comcast Office during HDTV Rollout

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, May 27, 2005 12:47 AM CDT
The NWI Times covers seven counties in North-Western Indiana (thus NWI!)

Comcast event draws union pickets

BY ANDREA HOLECEK
holecek@nwitimes.com
219.933.3316

MERRILLVILLE | IBEW Local 21 workers and officials picketed the local Comcast Cable office Thursday claiming the company isn't bargaining in good faith and it stymies its organizing efforts.

The picketing was planned to coincide with Comcast's demonstration of its ON DEMAND High-Definition Television, DVRs and High-Speed Internet for town officials and Northwest Indiana area residents in front of its office at 6161 Cleveland St. The event was conducted in a specially designed 18-wheeler, which is taking the demonstration from area to area.

Bob Przybylinski, area steward and organizer for Downers Grove-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21, said the union was demonstrating because it wants the company to give a fair raise to the about 63 installers, linemen, customer service and repairmen it representatives at the Merrillville location.

The Merrillville Comcast workers, who are among only 200 of the company's 4,700 Chicago-area employees represented by the union, currently are working under terms of a contract that expired in 1999, he said.

"Since Labor Day when we settled on the other terms of the contract, we've been waiting for Comcast to agree on wages and benefits," Przybylinski said. "Comcast is coming out saying 'we care,' but they aren't saying they hurt the community and the people in it. The workers have to choose between overtime or their families just to pay their bills.''

Since 1999, the workers have had one pay raise of 1.25 percent, he said. Comcast most recently upped it latest offer to 2.3 percent from 2.25 percent.

"It's no money at all,'' Przybylinski said.

Comcast spokeswoman Patricia Keenan said she wouldn't discuss details of the negotiations.

"We are very much about being at table and bargaining in good faith," she said. "And we believe it should be at the table, not in the media."

Dennis McCaffergy, a local IBEW union steward and SBC employee, said Comcast has used intimidation and threats of firing when it sees its workers speaking with people from the union about organizing. Keenan denies that's ever happened.

"We believe our employees should make their own decisions," she said. "It's about how and where they do it. All we ask is that they follow the rules of engagement in organizing. If they do decide to unionize, we go to the table to bargain in good faith."

Comcast Cable, whose regional office is in Schaumburg, serves more than 1.7 million customers in the greater Chicago area.