Spectrum Customers Targeted by Union

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is launching a digital ad campaign urging customers of Spectrum to “cut the cord on Spectrum.” The campaign has the backing of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) who signed a pledge with other politicians to boycott Spectrum and it’s New York news network, Spectrum News NY1. The workers went on strike nearly 2 years ago.

Perhaps angered that the union has kept them on strike without pay for so long without any end in sight, the union faces a decertification vote, a procedure that would remove the union as the bargaining agent for the 1,800 Spectrum employees. In a unique twist, the decertification vote was initiated by a former Spectrum supervisor who switched into a technician position in December 2017, eight months into the strike. As a supervisor, the employee would have been unable to request a decertification vote. As an employee he is able to lead the decertification process. There is a current case pending before the NLRB to determine whether the supervisor switch to employee tainted the decertification process. Stay tuned, this case will have a sweeping impact for unionized work forces throughout the United States.

Matt Austin owns Austin Legal, LLC, a boutique law firm based in Ohio that limits its representation to employers dealing with labor, employment, and OSHA matters. You can reach Matt by calling him at (614) 843-3041 or emailing him at Matt@MattAustinLaborLaw.com.