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"Which side are you on boys, which side are you on?" A good old labor song, the CWA would do well to learn it.

from: CNN

Union Joins AT&T To Fight Connecticut Cable Decision

October 18, 2007: 12:11 PM EST

HARTFORD (AP)--An AT&T union joined the telecommunications giant this week to fight a state order that AT&T Inc. (T) needs a cable television license for its Internet-based TV service in Connecticut.

The Communications Workers of America Local 1298 in Hamden organized a rally in Hartford Thursday. The union, which represents nearly 5,000 AT&T workers, has been told the company may lay off 1,300 employees by the end of the year if courts uphold the decision by the state Department of Public Utility Control.

"It will have a negative effect on Connecticut, not just telephone workers," said William Henderson, president of the CWA local. "We support AT&T. We find ourselves on the same page."

The union and the company also are lobbying state officials.

Department of Public Utility Control commissioners ruled Monday that a decision by a federal judge made it clear that AT&T's "U-verse" constitutes a cable television service, and that the company is operating it without proper authorization.

Commissioners unanimously rejected the company's application for a "video franchise" certificate, which state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said would have allowed AT&T to run "U-verse" under regulations that are less strict than those for cable television.

The DPUC ordered AT&T to apply for a cable TV license no later than Dec. 31.