News

UNI Global Union is urging all its affiliates to write to directly to Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann by clicking here and joining the petition calling on him to act responsibly and allow T-Mobile workers to have the right to form a union free from fear and intimidation. Deutsche Telekom must guarantee this right, not only in Germany but in every country that it operates in around the world.



In Germany, Deutsche Telekom respects the trade union and negotiates wages and working conditions. But in the USA, its subsidiary T-Mobile, management has taken a radically different approach and implemented an aggressive action plan to intimidate and threaten its employees when they seek to build local unions.



“I am deeply ashamed to work for a company in Germany that treats its employees in such a terrible way,” said one German call center worker and DT works council member who met T-Mobile workers in the US and heard the stories of the threats they faced.



The 34,000 T-Mobile USA workers without a union are completely at the mercy of local management’s decisions. A supervisor in the call center in Frisco, Texas, assured workers on March 21 that they would not need a union and that their jobs were secure. One day later management announced the closure of that call center and six others. A total of 3,300 T-Mobile workers will lose their jobs by June 22. Without a union, they cannot bargain for a fair severance deal. This is a disaster for these workers and their families. It is also totally unacceptable, that a company took $14.2 million of public subsidies for employment and training, failed to meet its obligations and then close these call centers.



Protest is stirring in the United States. Political leaders have appealed to U.S. management, and over 100,000 people signed an online petition calling on T-Mobile USA CEO Philipp Humm to show respect for his workers and their rights in the workplace. Unfortunately, he has ignored these appeals.



That is why we are asking you to join us and appeal directly to Deutsche Telekom CEO René Obermann.