T-Mobile Campaign Heats Up

Ado Wilhelm, at podium, and Kornelia Dubbel, tell delegates that ver.di is determined to help CWA and T-Mobile USA workers who want a union.

CWA delegates voted strong support for T-Mobile USA workers who are fighting for bargaining rights, and applauded the actions of ver.di, the union for T-Mobile workers in Germany that is working with CWA to end the double standard at the company.

CWA and ver.di have formed TU, a new global union that will represent workers on both sides of the Atlantic. Ado Wilhelm, divisional director of mobile communications for ver.di, and Kornelia Dubbel, works councilor for Deutsche Telekom Customer Service, told delegates that ver.di and others in Germany "are appalled at the way this company is suppressing union rights."

"The German management board keeps claiming that T-Mobile USA's actions are in line with U.S. labor laws, but we can assure you that no one in the world believes this any more."

Wilhelm and Dubbel leafleted outside a T-Mobile call center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We were kicked off the property, the doors were locked, as if they were afraid that we would storm the call center," they said. Then the police were called. But "experiences like this in Fort Lauderdale only encourage us to work harder together. T-Mobile is afraid of CWA," they said.

Wilhelm and Dubble also met with T-Mobile techs in New York, and one tech from New York bravely addressed the convention, despite the company's hard-line against union activity.