CWA and Public Interest Allies Oppose Charter/Cox Merger, Call for FCC to Deny the Transaction

CWA and our allies filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission this week urging the agency to deny the merger between cable giants Charter and Cox, citing the companies' failure to demonstrate that this transaction serves the public interest.

The petition sounds the alarm on Charter’s track record of unfulfilled employment commitments from previous mergers and recent customer service workforce reductions. Charter's history of resisting worker organizing efforts suggests the merger would further entrench the employer’s power over workers. Without meaningful protections, the consolidation threatens job quality and workers' rights across the combined entity's operations.

The petition also addresses concerns about the impact on customers and communities. “Charter and Cox propose to combine in a transaction that would reshape the American broadband landscape, creating a communications giant that would become the nation's largest cable and broadband provider, controlling access to over 36 million broadband customers and 70 million homes and businesses across 46 states,” it reads. “This consolidation would result in substantial public interest harms, including increased gatekeeper power over internet distribution, diminished competition, higher prices for consumers, and unequal treatment of underserved communities.”

Following this filing with the FCC, Charter and Cox expressed concern that CWA and its allies published what they claim is a confidential document. The document in question is an FAQ that describes the impact of the transaction on Cox employees’ terms and conditions of employment, including that Cox employee health and retirement benefits will worsen as a result of the deal.

CWA Convention delegates recently passed a resolution to build power in the telecommunications industry by organizing new members. Mergers like the one proposed between Charter and Cox enrich executives and shareholders while making it even more difficult for workers to join unions to improve their workplaces and build a better future for themselves and their families.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.