Workers Strike Over DT Attack on Jobs, Pay

Union members around the world can show their solidarity and support for workers at Deutsche Telekom in Germany who are fighting back against management demands to shift 50,000 jobs to subsidiary T-Services, where workers would face big cuts in pay and increased hours. 

Members of ver.di, the German union of telecom workers, voted nearly unanimously in support of strike action; the strike began May 11 and has spread throughout Germany, with more than 15,000 workers now off the job. 

Union Network International, the global labor group, and ver.di are asking workers to send a protest message to Rene Oberman, the chief executive officer of Deutsche Telekom. A copy of the letter also will be sent to ver.di.

Click on http://www.union-network.org/uniindep.nsf/ProtestDTMay07?openform.

UNI also has called on the German government, Deutsche Telekom's largest shareholder, to safeguard workers' benefits and working conditions. Since Blackstone, a private equity company, obtained a minority share in Deutsche Telekom, it has been pressing for huge cuts in worker compensation and other changes.

Blackstone wants cuts in pay for existing workers of 15 percent, with new workers to receive wages that are 40 percent below existing levels and lower than European minimum wage levels, UNI noted.

"Once again we are seeing the questionable pace of Private Equity and Hedge fund activity," said Philip Jennings, UNI General Secretary. A minority shareholder is seeking to fundamentally change the company, and "the price has fallen on the heads of the workers in terms of drastic cuts in working conditions and job security."