Photo: Jeff Roberson/AP

Amid its ongoing labor dispute with Local Union 3 IBEW electricians, cable company Charter Communications was denied the ability to file a revised third amended complaint in federal court over what it says were illegal demands during contract negotiations in 2017.

In an order issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe of the Southern District of New York traced what the court found to be the cable company's lack of diligence in bringing the case. Gardephe, a year ago, dismissed Charter's second shot at a complaint, finding no plausible allegation the union insisted on an unlawful signatory clause.

In its latest proposed claims, filed in November 2017, Charter alleges claims under the Labor Management Relations Act born out of a proposal made by the union in March 2017 during contract negotiations. The union sought to change language related to Charter's future hiring of subcontractors.

Under the old language, the subcontractors were to be paid wages and benefits similar to those under Local Union 3's contract with Charter. The union wanted a new contract to stipulate that those wages and benefits would be identical to those it negotiated.

Charter argued that because of the nature of the union's benefits structure, providing identical benefits would effectively corner it into only doing business with contractors who are party to a collective bargaining agreement with the union. This would be a violation of labor laws that prevent unions from dictating a company's dealings with third parties. Striking, the cable company argued, amounts to an unfair labor practice aimed at forcing the company to accept an unlawful demand.

As the court noted in a footnote, the cable company's prospects in the case were slim. Just days after the negotiations at the center of its claims, Charter was presented with expanded language by the union which, Gardephe notes, is not contended to be an unlawful union signatory clause. Damages, then, would be limited to all of three days between proposals when the union was on strike.

Still, in reviewing Charter's proposed claims, Gardephe found that courts and the National Labor Relations Board look for explicit language that would force a subcontractor to adhere to the terms of the union's contract for there to be an unlawful secondary effect. As the court saw no such explicit language proposed by the union, Charter's claims were found to be futile, and its motion to file denied.

“While plaintiff highlights the Union's demand that subcontracting be limited 'to companies paying wages and benefits identical to [the] [collective bargaining agreement]' … both courts and the NLRB have approved clauses requiring employers to select subcontractors that pay 'the same' wages and benefits,” Gardephe wrote.

The judge also noted that Charter failed to cite specific laws to support its claims the union's proposal was unlawful. What it did cite, Gardephe said, focused solely on language limiting subcontracting to contractors who were signatories to the CBAs.

The union and individual officers named were represented by Archer, Byington, Glennon & Levine name attorney John Byington III. In a statement, Byington noted that the union had yet again prevailed against Charter in the matter.

“Judge Gardephe's thorough and well-reasoned decision correctly found again, after multiple attempts by Charter Communications to persuade the court otherwise, that the union complied with applicable law in its good faith attempts to negotiate a fair contract for Charter/Spectrum's employees, and while faced with an uphill battle to secure a fair contract which is still unresolved,” Byington said.

Charter was represented by a legal team led by Kauff McGuire & Margolis name attorney Kenneth Margolis. He did not respond to a request for comment.

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