IBEW video wins contest

Barriers to a greener grid

Amtrak privatization proposed

Ore. members win small works

Members Defend Wage Gains at Public Utility

Recovery pact wins N.C. data center project

Gearing up for Verizon bargaining

Big 3 surge benefits IBEW members

A path to IBEW apprenticeship

North of 49°
Working Families Confront Canada's New Political Landscape

Au nord du 49° parallèle
Les Familles Travailleuses Devant Un Nouveau Paysage Politique Au Canada

Comcast has a well-earned reputation as one of the most anti-union companies in the telecommunications industry. "It is the Walmart of the cable and telecommunications industry," says Downers Grove, Ill., Local 21 Business Manager Ronald Kastner, who has been trying to organize the cable provider in the Chicago area for years. "There isn't much they won't do to keep unions out."

But last spring, a group of Comcast workers in New Jersey successfully took on the company's hard-line opposition to unions, winning a small, but key victory.

In May, more than 75 employees at Comcast's Fairfield, N.J., facility made history when they ratified their first contract with the company. The new members of East Windsor Local 827 are the first ever previously unorganized Comcast workers to join a union.

"This is a company that is willing to spend millions to fight a union contract that might cost them $10,000," says Telecommunications and Broadcasting Department International Representative Kevin Curran. "To finally win one after so many years is a huge boost."

The historic victory was the culmination of an eight-year organizing campaign. "The company had tried everything to keep the union out and it was pretty successful until now," says Local 827 Business Manager William Huber.

Hill: Real Mechanics Needed to Fix Economy
Chilia: Deception on Medicare

Lending a Helping Hand to the Homeless; High School Girls Explore Careers in Nuclear Energy; Caribbean Diary: Retiree Reflects on Peace Corps Experience

Wesley I. Taylor; Joseph F. Lohman; Thomas Hammer

May 2011

For Las Vegas JATC Director, Passion Key to Success

In a Union Worker's Shoes; A Better Life for All; Old Boys' Club?