In an extraordinary use of his office to help union allies, Mayor de Blasio Monday night put the squeeze on Cablevision, telling its disaffected workers involved in a private labor dispute, “I am with you every step of the way.”
The mayor’s intercession on behalf of the Communication Workers of America — one of the first unions to endorse him for City Hall — came at a union rally, from which the public was barred even though it was held at PS 66 in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
“De Blasio said, ‘I am with you every step of the way,’ ” recalled Eric Ocasio, 34, a Cablevision worker for seven years.
Cashmere Manigault, 46, a 10-year employee of Cablevision, said the mayor was clearly taking sides.
“He told everyone that we deserve a contract and we shouldn’t be left out. We didn’t have anyone to stand up for us before. This will give us a voice. CWA gave us a voice,” Manigault said.
De Blasio exited through the back entrance of the school without comment.
The mayor’s public schedule said he was addressing the CWA, but the topic was kept secret, and no location was given.
The meeting was held across the street from an Optimum / Cablevision headquarters, where utility trucks could be seen parked in a lot.
Before de Blasio arrived, a red CWA sign showing a clenched fist could be seen in the cafeteria.
“The Optimum-Cablevision reign of terror is at an end,” it read.
CWA has been locked in a fierce dispute with Cablevision since 280 Brooklyn technicians voted to unionize in early 2012.
In a statement Monday night, Cablevision accused de Blasio of using his office to favor political allies.
“We believe the mayor is simply repaying a political debt to [CWA Political Director] Bob Master and the CWA as well as the Working Families Party for supporting his election, and we call upon the mayor to stop acting against the interest of Cablevision employees by trying to force a union on those who do not want one,” the statement said.
Several months ago, it said, de Blasio “urged Cablevision to give in to the CWA’s demands. He wanted his friends taken care of. We explained that we were following the process that the law demands in settling this issue.
“We further pointed out that Cablevision and MSG have good relations with every other union we deal with. Now he is very quietly having a meeting with our employees on the issue and wants no press on his activities.”
While running for mayor, de Blasio sided with CWA and sought to punish Madison Square Garden, owned by Cablevision CEO James Dolan.
Calling Dolan anti-union, he wrote to the NBA, urging it to pick the Barclays Center over MSG for the 2015 All-Star game.
Additional reporting by Ross Toback