The standoff between Innovative Communication Corp. and locked-out employees of the company’s St. Croix Cable TV became even more tense early Thursday morning when cable service was knocked off the air by vandals.
At about 2:30 a.m. Thursday, the head-end cable from which all signals are transmitted at the St. Croix Cable TV facility in Estate Diamond was destroyed when unknown intruders drove spikes and nails into it. The vandalism disrupted cable service to the system’s 13,000 customers, according to Holland Redfield, ICC’s vice president of corporate affairs.
A business owner who receives a cable feed from St. Croix Cable TV said the outage lasted about two-and-a-half hours, but because of the time of the outage impact was negligible.
"Unfortunately, there are individuals in the community that have grievances who may have taken it upon themselves to destroy our property at the expense of our customers," Redfield said in a release. "It is obvious to us that they knew what they were doing and that they understood the destruction their actions would cause to the system."
On Nov. 21, ICC locked out 24 cable workers who make up the Our Virgin Islands Labor Union because they wouldn’t sign with the United Steelworkers Union. ICC and USW officials contend that theirs is a "closed shop" that doesn’t allow another union to represent workers who perform similar duties.
St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis said that considering the tension between the company and locked-out workers, investigators have a good idea where to start.
"It appears to be sabotage," he said. "It is a fact that it hasn’t happened before and now there is a lockout. We will look at it."
ICC, meanwhile, is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the damage.
