A SBC Communications Inc. junction box used to connect telephone
and high-speed Internet wires together was vandalized Monday.
A SBC Communications Inc. junction box used to connect telephone and high-speed Internet wires together was vandalized Monday.
The box, which was unlocked and located in Wentz Alley off San Benito Street at Johnny’s Bar and Grill, had 15 active wires cut that service surrounding businesses.
The vandalism occurred during the Communications Workers of America (CWA) four-day strike over labor negotiations with SBC, and was almost identical to instances of vandalism to junction boxes, also called b-boxes, in the Bay Area.
A Hollister-based SBC service technician who did not participate in the strike and asked to remain anonymous, repaired the wires Monday and speculated they were cut by an SBC employee to put pressure on managers.
“I saw on the news that it happened in the Bay Area and I was surprised to see that it happened here,” the technician said. “The union doesn’t advocate it, and I’m sure somebody did it because they thought they were helping… but it doesn’t help anybody.”
He wasn’t sure when the vandalism occurred, but said that business owners started calling mid-day on Monday to complain about their phone lines and high-speed Internet connections being down.
In San Francisco six boxes were vandalized Friday, and while authorities don’t know who is behind the vandalism, SBC spokesperson Vanessa Smith said she understood why the Hollister technician would make that statement.
“We’re not pointing fingers at the labor folks, but it did happen (on the days during the strike),” Smith said. “We don’t know who was doing it, and we haven’t found anyone to be at fault yet.”
Louie Rocha, president of the CWA local 9423, which includes SBC union workers in San Benito County and several surrounding counties, emphatically denied any union involvement.
“The union never has and never will support vandalism of a network we built ourselves,” Rocha said. “It just doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Out of the 25 Hollister-based SBC employees, 20 of them participated in the strike, Rocha said.
He speculated that the vandalism could have been committed by a disgruntled manager or a sub-contractor for SBC who was looking for work.
“They try to create work for themselves,” Rocha said. “They are known as vultures who swoop in when there is a buck to be made.”
The cut wires took approximately three hours to fix and caused several businesses in the area around Fifth, Sixth and San Benito streets to lose service for part of the day, the SBC service technician said.
The vandalism in the Bay Area was reported to the police and a reward of $25,000 was offered to apprehend the suspects, but no report to local police was made concerning the vandalism, according to the Hollister Police Department.
