When The Party's Over
A Comcast Worker's Views Before and After an Election
The following article was written by a Comcast worker in Philadelphia after an unsuccessful organizing effort by the workers
It is as if we never had any issues at work here in Philadelphia. Managers that were once putting their best foot forward and pushing to be our best friends now seem to have a lot of animosity toward the employees. The concern for our work issues is gone because the threat of the Union is gone. Morale is back to an all-time low, just as it was before we asked CWA to help us organize. The breakfast and luncheon meetings that were an every day occurrence during the organizing drive are just a memory. The fiery sense of urgency from Human Resources, Area Vice Presidents and even the owners of Comcast have turned cold. Our complaints about workload, safety, productivity, promotions and pensions have fallen on deaf ears. In the fourteen years I have been an employee at Comcast, I never saw those people until the word "Union" was mentioned and apparently I won't see them again unless we try to organize ourselves into a Union.
In contrast, prior to the election supervisors were offering to help wash employees' cars after working hours. Supervisors were normally never seen after working hours and now that our election is over those same supervisors are back to their old routines.
Workload had mysteriously dropped and customer commitments took a backseat to the needs of the workers for the brief time we were organizing. Workload is as high as ever and the practice of working through lunch and break time to finish your days log is back.
Comcast had a big celebration party once the Union was voted down. It was open bar and buffet all night long. Emotions of most employees was high because in their own words "We have the Company's ear now, we don't need the Union". Sadly, that feeling has quickly faded and we are now stuck with the decisions that we have made for at least another year.
To put it simply many of the workers now feel like Comcast has duped us.
