News

UNI’s U.S. affiliate the Communication Workers of America (CWA) has ratified a first-ever contract for technicians at T-Mobile USA in Connecticut. The contract provides for a grievance and arbitration process, just cause, a ban on contracting out technician work, and strong language prohibiting discrimination against the unionized Connecticut technicians in terms of wages, benefits and working conditions.

The tough negotiations covering the unit of 16 technicians lasted nearly a year. At several sessions, leaders from UNI’s German affiliate ver.di, which represents Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile workers in Germany, joined the CWA negotiating team. They expressed disbelief over the tactics of the union avoidance attorneys hired by T-Mobile USA management to stall the negotiations.

At bargaining in July, Lothar Schröder from ver.di noted that “it had not been possible to reach an agreement regarding even the simplest things such as the installation of a bulletin board for union information or the provision of the technicians with the tools necessary for their work. The expensive attorney (management has hired) likely had cost Deutsche Telekom more money than all the demands CWA has been bargaining for. This borders on the absurd.”