German Workers Stand Strong with U.S. T-Mobile Collegues

In Germany, members of ver.di, the union representing telecom workers at Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile, have taken the fight of T-Mobile USA workers to heart.

Since CWA and ver.di joined together to form TU, a joint union for all Deutsche Telekom workers in the U.S. and Germany, German workers have stood up for their U.S. counterparts in lots of way.

Here are some of the latest actions:

• ver.di members at the call center in Düsseldorf have a strong partnership with T-Mobile USA call center workers in Nashville. At a recent workers meeting in Bochum, Germany, "we managed to get 600 signatures from workers from six different workplaces." This is a huge success for us and also for you -- our brothers and sisters in the US!" reported Stephan Heggemann, a ver.di activist at Deutsche Telekom in Düsseldorf.
  
  
• At ver.di's union youth conference for Deutsche Telekom trainees in October, young union workers showed solidarity with their T-Mobile USA brothers and sisters throughout the two-day event, with speakers criticizing Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA management for their anti-union behavior.
  
  
  
• In November, thousands of supporters in the U.S. and in Germany participated in a Facebook protest against Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile. In Germany, supporters changed their profile picture and posted a poem that called on Deutsche Telekom to respect workers' rights at T-Mobile USA. In the US, supporters posted a video spotlighting how T-Mobile's offshoring of call center jobs hurts workers and customers.
  
  
  
• The Facebook pages of DT and T-Mobile USA were flooded with posts from both sides of the Atlantic. T-Mobile USA censored its Facebook page, deleting comments and shutting that section down less than an hour after the action began.
  
  
• Still underway in both countries, a petition to the CEOs of Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA, calling for an end to offshoring and outsourcing of call center and network jobs. Click here to download and sign the petition.

Find out more about this campaign and how you can be a part of it at www.weworkbettertogether.org.