Labor now supports media merger, Net dereg (fwd)

budge budge at el-pleasant.org
Fri Jun 14 20:11:21 PDT 2002


The buisness of America is business, so obviously the buisiness of American Labor is business, right?

-- no Onan

Undefeated, everybody goes home

[posted to: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/]

------ Forwarded Message

// From: Jeff Chester <jeff at democraticmedia.org> // Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 16:17:56 -0400 // To: farber at cis.upenn.edu // Subject: Labor now supports media merger, Net dereg

Communications Daily: FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2002 VOL. 22, NO. 115:

"CWA did about-face on proposed merger of Comcast and AT&T Broadband. After raising concerns, CWA announced Thurs. that it was supporting merger. Union said merger would expand access to high-speed Internet services and "lead to the creation of quality jobs in the industry." CWA said that after "extended discussions" with Comcast and AT&T officials, union leaders determined that workers would gain greater opportunities under merged company, including more positive labor relations."

"AFL-CIO sent letter to senators urging passage of Breaux-Nickles Broadband Regulatory Parity Act of 2002 (S-2430). Letter said bill would "bolster the U.S. economy at an especially critical time." AFL-CIO said more than 250,000 jobs were lost in telecom sector during current recession and competition between cable and telephone companies on broadband would help jump-start Internet economy, with positive spillover effects throughout broader economy. AFL-CIO said proposed AT&T-Comcast merger would create a cable monopoly with "virtually exclusive access to 40% of U.S. households and would likely precipitate further consolidation in the cable industry." Letter said inequitable regulatory treatment has made telephone companies reluctant to invest in expansion of broadband network. USTA praised letter and Pres. Walter McCormick said: "The AFL-CIO's support for the Breaux-Nickles broadband bill is another strong indication of the tremendous benefits this bill brings to the nation's economy." -

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