News

Over 2200 participants from 335 different unions and 87 countries stood together as one and called for the double standards to end at German telecom multinational Deutsche Telekom. 



Delegates rose to their feet and joined together holding up signed postcards to show their support for organising and collective bargaining rights no matter where Deutshce Telekom operates. The postcards, addressed to Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann, ask the company to end the double standards faced by workers.

2200 Union leaders from around the world hold up postcards addressed to Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann

This years’ Call Centre Action Month campaign was presented to the UNI Global Union 3^rd World Congress. The Congress was held in Nagasaki, Japan with over 2200 participants from all corners of the globe. 



Trade union delegations stood to applaud the efforts of workers in Montenegro, the United States and Germany among others in their fight to bring dignity and respect to workers no matter where they work in the world. Deutsche Telekom workers have been trying to form unions and collectively bargain in these countries but have often been unfairly held back from doing so by the company. 



For workers outside of Germany they often face anti-union practices including restrictions on union access to organise workers and a denial of collective bargaining rights. When compared to workers in Germany where the company is based, workers outside face a double standard. For example, the congress was appalled to learn that the company operates openly with the union in Germany while it is completely the opposite in the US. 



During the “Breaking through for union growth” session of the Congress, Larry Cohen (CWA, USA) and Lothar Schröder (ver.di, Germany) outlined the case so far and the future direction of the campaign to bring rights to workers outside of Germany.

Larry and Lothar thanked unions for visiting the German Embassy in their country. These visits deliver a clear message to the German Government. As a major shareholder in DT it is high time they addressed the global problems affecting workers in the US subsidiary T-Mobile USA, Croatia and Montenegro among others. 



Signing a Global Agreement with UNI Global Union, acknowledged as a tool for living up to the principles of the UN Global Compact, would ensure that Deutsche Telekom can be a global leader when it comes to workers’ rights. UNI and its affiliates have been trying to negotiate a Global Agreement with Deutsche Telekom for more than 6 years but has not yet me with success. 



You can visit the UNI World Congress Flickr site for more photos from the Call Centre Action Month post card signing here http://www.flickr.com