"We Are All Josh"

In a tremendous display of solidarity, Deutsche Telekom workers, members of ver.di, Germany's biggest union, held a nationwide Day of Action today at 20 T-Mobile locations. The German workers are shocked by the unjust terminations and mistreatment of workers at T-Mobile US, and they are supporting their U.S. colleagues who want union representation.

Actions took place in Berlin, at corporate headquarters and the office port in Bonn, in Brüehl, Dortmund, Duesseldorf, Dresden, Kempten (and Schweinfurth), Leipzig, Ludwigshafen, Schwerin, Heilbronn, Koblenz, Mainz, Mannheim, Munich, Saarbruecken, Stuttgart, Trier and other locations. The scale of this action was unprecedented; 10,000 workers participated in distributing leaflets, wearing buttons, taking photos and most important, promising to join in even more solidarity actions.

"Unions and employees in the United States must be treated with respect, dignity and fairness. Arbitrariness, threats and dismissals are 'management tools' from the early years of capitalism and unworthy of a modern German company with operations in more than 50 countries around the world," said Lothar Schröder, member of the Executive Board of the United Services Union (ver.di). "I urge the (DT) Executive Board: Allow US workers to have a voice in the workplace through CWA!"

German workers are protesting the escalating attacks against T-Mobile US employees who actively support CWA representation, as well as the anti-union attitude from upper management of the company, a subsidiary of DT. Workers who want union representation face sanctions up to and including dismissal, ver.di pointed out.

One victim of this practice was Josh Coleman, a customer service representative and union activist who was fired despite having won several awards and praise for his outstanding job performance. German workers have taken Josh's case on as their own, wearing t-shirts that say "We Are All Josh" and hanging "Josh" signs in call center locations. ver.di members say that Josh has to be reinstated, otherwise the protests will be extended and expanded. ver.di also reported, that "In the factories there were many good discussions with our colleagues. These discussions were marked by horror at the behavior of T-Mobile US management and of great solidarity with their colleagues in the United States."

ver.di Members Protest T-Mobile US Attacks on Workers

About 20 ver.di activists sneaked into a Deutsche Telekom -sponsored event in Berlin called "Long Night of Startups." When incoming CEO Timotheus Höttges took the microphone, activists stood up to reveal t-shirts reading, "We Are All Josh. We Are Not Disposable." During the main event, a light show lit up the room with "TU, CWA and ver.di" and "We Expect Better."

Watch this great video of the light show.