Wildcat strike deals Cablevision second blow

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120202/LABOR_UNIONS/120209973/1072

Bronx technicians employed by a contractor for the company walked off their jobs Thursday, a week after Cablevision technicians in Brooklyn voted to unionize.

Updated: February 2, 2012 6:28 p.m.

A week after several hundred Cablevision technicians in Brooklyn voted to unionize, about 120 Bronx technicians employed by a contractor for the company briefly walked off their jobs in a wildcat strike Thursday.

The workers, who are employed by Corbel Installations and do installations for Cablevision in the Bronx and Westchester, said they downed their tools because of a new Corbel policy that lowers their wages 30% to about $35 for installing a “triple-play” package of phone, internet and television service.

The workers walked off their jobs Thursday morning and said they wanted to join the Communications Workers of America, the same union the Brooklyn technicians voted to join last week.

They elected a committee that met with management, and by late Thursday workers had negotiated a deal to return to work, with double pay for the rest of the day, the strikers said. They got the rate for installing triple pay packages bumped up to $40 and also won a bonus of up to $10 for each home visited and a $7 payout for multiple-room installations. The workers said they still hoped to unionize.

FULL story at link.