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At a joint news conference today, ver.di, the union representing workers at Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile operations in Germany, the Communications Workers of America and UNI Global Union said DT management’s double standard in the way it treats workers in different countries must end now.



CWA and ver.di formed TU last November to stop the double standard that has allowed T-Mobile USA to harass and intimidate workers in the U.S. who want union representation. In this model, Lothar Schröder, an executive board member of ver.di, is responsible for relations with Deutsche Telekom and CWA’s President Larry Cohen has responsibilities for organizing and working with telecom workers and TU members in the U.S.



Cohen pointed out that contrary to T-Mobile USA’s anti-union efforts, “one major U.S. telecom, AT&T, has set a standard based on neutrality and recognition based on majority sign up, and the company’s 42,000 Mobility employees have a contract and bargaining rights. T-Mobile USA instead chooses to ally with the worst of U.S. managers who fight collective bargaining for employees in every imaginable way. These companies use the loop holes in current U.S. labor law that support and permit anti-union campaigning by management,” he said.



Schröder pointed out that “in Germany and many countries, DT complies with its Social Charter which directs the company to adhere to “internationally recognized norms, directives and standards.” DT also respects the human rights standards of the International Labor Organization and upholds the labor principles of the United Nations Global Compact regarding freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.



“But when it comes to U.S. operations, which employs about 40,000 workers and produces about 25 percent of DT’s revenue, DT’s Social Charter is no where to be found,” Schroeder said.



Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union said, “UNI members are tired of the lame excuses of DT. It is in the grip of U.S. management that is out of line with DT policy. The time has come for DT to spring clean their operations to bring compliance with their own social charter.”



UNI, CWA and ver.di are pressing DT for a global agreement that would protect the fundamental labour rights of the company’s workers worldwide.



Marcus Courtney, head of UNI Telecom, noted that “France Telecom and Telefonica have signed global agreements with UNI respecting workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. Deutsche Telekom is failing to meet standards set by its competition.”



UNI also has raised concerned about DT’s recent actions in Montenegro and other parts of southeastern Europe, where it is engaging in conduct that violates its own Social Charter, Courtney said.



Professor John Logan of San Francisco State said his research confirmed that Deutsche Telekom has definitively chosen not to export its constructive and cooperative labor practices to the U.S. “Rather than raising the bar for American companies when it comes to labor-management cooperation, or even following the lead of U.S. companies that do respect fundamental labor rights, DT subsidiary T-Mobile USA has joined the ranks of corporations fighting against employees’ efforts to improve their conditions. DT has violated both the Global Compact’s core labor principles and its own Social Charter,” he said.



T-Mobile USA’s record of repression is well-documented and began when T-Mobile entered the U.S. market in 2001.

• In 2003 T-Mobile distributed “The Union Free Privilege,” an anti-union memo, to its operations across America.
• Routinely, T-Mobile security officers take down the license numbers of workers who take union leaflets outside T-Mobile call center and support facilities.
• T-Mobile employees are forced to attend management led meetings where they are warned about joining a union, with both implied and open threats that they will be fired for doing so.
• In 2008, an updated anti-union memo was distributed secretly to front-line managers offering instructions on what to do if CWA organizers attempt to communicate with T-Mobile rank and file employees.
• T-Mobile USA workers are told that managers are watching union organizers when they leaflet, and watching T-Mobile workers too.

“Our message to multinational companies, in this case Deutsche Telekom, is this: We’re tired of the face of cooperation in Germany ... and then the club of intolerance in the United States. We expect Deutsche Telekom to operate far above the minimum in the United States,” Cohen said.