UNIONS ASK FCC FOR MAXIMUM FINE AGAINST COMCAST OVER DOCUMENTS
In the latest volley between Comcast and 2 labor unions, the CWA and the IBEW accused Comcast of trying to mislead the FCC and misconstruing Commission rules. The debate centers on public files that the FCC requires cable operators to have available for public inspection in regular business hours. The files include such materials as all requests in the previous 2 years for cable time by or on behalf of a political candidate, with information on how the request was handled; information on children’s programming on local origination channels; EEO reports; leased access requirements and signal leakage and repair logs.
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In Nov., just after losing an important vote, the unions filed a complaint at the FCC alleging that 132 of Comcast’s cable systems were violating the public file rules. The unions in late Oct. had sent members to Comcast offices to check the files for possible violations. They said many systems didn’t have a public file, didn’t make it available upon request or it was incomplete. The complaint was filed shortly after employees in some of Comcast’s collective bargaining units voted to decline representation by the CWA and IBEW.
Comcast said in its response that the unions’ motives were “tactical” in nature, resulting from the union vote. Comcast said it never had been cited by the FCC for failure to maintain its public files and that no member of the public who “legitimately” sought access to the records ever had complained: “The purpose of these visits [by the unions] was not to obtain any information that is maintained or is required to be maintained in the files. Rather the orchestrated mass of visits was motivated by the desire to enlist the Commission’s regulatory machinery as an adjunct to their union organizing efforts.”
Comcast said the unions’ complaints lacked documentation and details about the visits, was “replete with misleading and outright false allegations” and demonstrated a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the FCC’s public file requirements. Comcast contends that the rules don’t require a cable operator to maintain a public file in every community that it serves, but on a systemwide basis. It said the Commission’s rules didn’t address the trend toward consolidation of headends and integrated systems, so the location of the public file “may be somewhat distant from some of the communities served by that system.” Comcast said it “acknowledges that even though the location of a public inspection file may be technically compliant with the rules, its location may be inconvenient for the public.” For example, the unions complained that a file for Marianna, Fla., actually was in Ala., which Comcast said was correct.
As a result, Comcast said it was considering establishing a nationwide policy that would allow customers to access the files using a computer terminal at a Comcast location. The company said it wants to maintain files within a 30-min. drive of a cable community, even in integrated systems, so it was establishing a file at the Marianna bill payment office. “Comcast would gladly work with the Commission to establish guidelines for locating public files at additional locations,” it told the FCC. It also admitted that some files weren’t located within the footprint of an integrated system and it therefore was taking steps to correct that. Comcast said the unions’ allegations of incomplete files were false. But it also said it would like to work with the Commission to improve public file requirements, “including possibly changes that would go beyond our current legal obligations.”
The unions said last week responded that regardless of Comcast’s claim that it had corrected some alleged violations, the Commission should include those locations as those being in violation. The unions said there could be no justification for locating a public file 85 miles from the community it served. “Comcast misconstrues both the letter and purpose of the public file rules regarding the location of the public file,” the unions said. “The Commission for the past 25 years has made clear that the public file must be located in each local community system unit, not, as Comcast wrongly claims, in each technically and operationally integrated system.”
The unions said union representatives at times were told to return the next day or make an appointment to see the files, although the rules say the files should be made available upon request in regular business hours. The unions asked the FCC to impose the maximum fine permissible under Commission rules. An FCC spokesman said a fine for failing to adequately maintain public files could be up to $27,500 for a single violation and $300,000 for a continuing violation.