CWA Voices Concerns at NY PSC Hearing About Altice’s Debt, Staff Cuts
Customers, advocates and telecom workers railed against a proposal to sell Cablevision to Dutch-owned Altice (see 1601250011), at a New York State Public Service Commission hearing in the Bronx Wednesday, said a news release from the Communications Workers of America…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
(CWA). The union cited concerns over what it called Altice’s track record of taking on large amounts of debt, cutting staff and outsourcing jobs, which would have a negative effect on customer service and New York’s economy, the release said. The Altice proposal would have the company take on $8.6 billion in debt to finance the deal -- on top of Cablevision’s existing $5.9 billion debt (see 1512090034), the release said. The level of debt would require deep cost-cutting at Cablevision, which would cause both staffing and network investments to suffer, to the detriment of both consumers and workers, CWA said. The union filed official objections with the FCC on the deal in December (see 1512080013), also pointing to the debt. “The current deal proposed would have a ripple effect on Cablevision’s programing, customer service, and employees,” said Dennis Trainor, CWA vice president-District One, during Wednesday's hearing. “There is a concern that Cablevision employees will lose their jobs and services will be cut for customers. If Altice doesn’t start to make commitments to protect jobs and ensure excellent customer service, the PSC should reject the proposal." Altice had no immediate comment.