Comcast says merger is risky, but will not lay off workers

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said he will not eliminate jobs as a result of the company's $30 billion purchase of NBC Universal, but admitted the deal is risky.

He repeated his key point from the congressional hearings today: that Comcast and NBC are not direct competitors but rather complementary. So the merged company will not have to lay off workers with redundant jobs.

"We don't own a Hollywood studio or theme park," he said. "There isn't the same overlap you see in horizontal deals."

Communications Workers of America, which represents 2,500 NBC employees and 2,000 Comcast workers, opposes the deal.

"Mergers typically lead to job loss as companies cut jobs to take on the debt it carries," said Debbie Goldman, telecom policy director for the Communications Workers of America labor union. "Thousands of workers will lose their jobs as a result of this transaction."

Previous mergers, including Sprint's purchase of Nextel and Time Warner's acquisition of AOL, resulted in large numbers of lay-offs.

Goldman said that Comcast has a "long history of running aggressive campaigns to decertify unions and firing workers who want to join unions."

Comcast has 100,000 employees, while NBC has 33,000.

Even while committing to not fire workers, Roberts admitted the deal is a big bet that may not work out in the end.

"This deal is a risk," he said. "It's not clear it's a sure thing. "