Union-repped Charter Communications tech workers held a demonstration yesterday alongside New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in Brooklyn, with their strike approaching the six-month mark.
According to local reports, as many as 10,000 people assembled on the Brooklyn side of the East River, then marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, voicing their support for 1,700 Charter tech workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
New York Governor Cuomo spoke to the crowd, alongside New York City Major Bill de Blasio, who has been a vocal proponent of the union workers since they began their work stoppage on March 28.
Charter rep John Bonomo disputed reports of the protest's crowd size, noting in an email to FierceCable, "Granted I was not on the Brooklyn side, but at Foley Square in downtown Manhattan there was a guesstimate in the range of 500/600 people there--nowhere near 10,000 (which I realize you reported to be on the Brooklyn side)."
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The workers are holdovers from Time Warner Cable, which was acquired by Charter last year. Their striking for better wages and work conditions.
“It’s about respect and fairness,’ Cuomo told the crowd.
Charter has said that more than 100 outages in the region have stemmed from vandalism caused by striking workers and their supporters.
Local businesses who have been impacted by those outages have not approved of the Democratic governor’s decision to support the strikers.
“I don’t think that shows the right ethics that we would look for in our mayor, or a governor,” a Brooklyn shop owner told WCBS-TV.