Altice USA employees in the Bronx and New Jersey rejected efforts by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to organize part of the workforce of Altice-owned Cablevision.

The cable operator today announced both unions were rejected in a relatively close vote:

• In Piscataway, N.J., the IBEW lost in a vote of 53-43;
• In the Bronx, the CWA lost in a vote of 113 against unionizing and 92 for CWA representation.

Altice’s reputation for drastically cutting workers in the companies it acquires apparently failed to sway employees. Altice recently announced it was planning to gradually spin technical workers off to a new separate entity dubbed, “Altice Technical Services.”

The CWA believes the move may allow Altice to cancel its job-retention commitments to New York regulators required as a condition of approving Altice’s acquisition of Cablevision.