Breaking Through at T-Mobile is Focus of International Union Movement

CWA President Larry Cohen and ver.di National Executive Board member Lothar Schröder outline the TU campaign at the UNI Worldwide Congress.

The international union community is standing strong with T-Mobile workers worldwide who want a union voice and want parent company Deutsche Telekom (DT) to end its double standard when it comes to workers' organizing and bargaining rights.

At the UNI Congress in Nagasaki, Japan, CWA President Larry Cohen and ver.di National Executive Board member Lothar Schröder together described the joint activities that ver.di, which represents T-Mobile workers in Germany, and CWA have put together. T-Mobile workers on both sides of the Atlantic are joining TU, a new global union formed by ver.di and CWA.

Schröder said Deutsche Telekom has a close and productive relationship with ver.di but so far the company has been refusing dialogue in the United States. Cohen said that by working with ver.di, "we will break through at T-Mobile."

The 1,500 participants, from 335 unions and 87 countries, stood in solidarity with T-Mobile workers, holding TU cards and banners from UNI’s worldwide customer service workers' campaign.

T-Mobile and DT's double standard also has been the focus of that month-long campaign.

Unions worldwide have been visiting German embassies in their home countries to express their concern over DT's double standard when it comes to respecting workers' rights. The German government is a major shareholder in DT and is influential in the company's operations.

Most recently, union delegations in Italy, Cameroon and Costa Rica met with German embassy officials in their home countries.

Customer service workers around the world also are sending postcards to DT CEO Rene Obermann, calling for fairness and bargaining rights for T-Mobile workers worldwide.

At a meeting at the German Embassy, Costa Rican unionists show their support for bargaining rights for T-Mobile workers.

Below: Some 1,500 UNI activists stand in solidarity with T-Mobile workers worldwide.