Business Representative Derek Jordan pictured with New York City Councilman James Van Bramer.
As you may be aware, Local 3, IBEW members in the ET Division are still out on strike for unfair labor practices by Charter Communications/Spectrum Cable. The å_Local 3 members formerly employed by Time Warner Cable before the purchase by Charter have been working under an expired agreement. Both TWC and Charter have refused to bargain with Local 3 for over 2 years. There has been little progress in earlier negotiations before the strike and very little movement after a recent meeting between the parties.
The NY Times published an article in the Business Section entitled, ‰ÛÏas CEO Pay Packages Grow, Top Executives Have the President‰Ûªs Ear.‰Û�
‰ÛÏThe biggest winner last year was Thomas M. Rutledge of Charter Communications, who pulled down a $98 million pay package, according to the Equilar 200 highest-paid chief executive rankings, conducted for The New York Times.‰Û�
‰ÛÏMr. Rutledge, 63, stormed to the front of the pack after closing his company‰Ûªs mega-merger, a $65 billion takeover of Time Warner and a smaller competitor.
‰ÛÏThis past March, Mr. Rutledge met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office. The president lavished him with praise for a plan to add 20,000 jobs, although the broad outlines of that initiative had been laid out nearly two years earlier, when the merger was first announced.‰Û�
Rising executive compensation only widens the gap between top executives and most American workers. Mr. Rutledge, for instance, made about 2,617 times the average American worker‰Ûªs salary of $37,632, according to figures maintained by the AFL-CIO.‰Û�
‰ÛÏIn the meantime, pay for top executives is reaching staggering levels. Mr. Rutledge‰Ûªs compensation swelled to $98 million largely thanks to a stock options award valued at roughly $78 million. The Charter board awarded Mr. Rutledge that grant, which runs through 2020, about a month before completion of its big merger in May 2016.‰Û�
It is unfathomable that a company can compensate a CEO with $98 million while trying to break our union sisters and brothers with undue economic pressure and attempts to slash their hard-earned benefits ‰ÛÓ benefits like our Pension/Hospitalization Plan, Dental, Annuity, HRA, Educational and Cultural Trust Fund that these members opted to defer money from their wages to pay for ‰ÛÓ and changes to other longstanding work practices.
Business Manager Christopher Erikson pictured with Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.
Some of the thousands of trade unionists that showed up at the rally.
NYC Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez voices his displeasure with Spectrum Communications.
Business Manager Christopher Erikson fires up the 23rd Street crowd.
The sign says all that needs to be said about Spectrum Communications.
