Facts

T-Mobile USA at a Glance

  • Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Deutsche Telecom AG
  • Fourth Largest Wireless Company in the U.S. After AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel
  • Customers:                   33.8 million in 4th Quarter 2009
  • Annual Revenue:           $17.1 billion in 2009
  • Employees:                   38,000

CWA Supports the Deutsche Telecom Purchase of VoiceStream in 2000-2001

  • Filings with the Federal Communications Commission
  • Testimony to Congress
  • Meeting with White House Staff
  • Support based on Deutsch Telecom’s Unique Relationship with Labor
    • Co-Determination: One-half of Supervisory Board elected by employees  
    • History of recognizing labor rights and working with unions

May 2001 Deutsche Telecom closes the VoiceStream purchase - VoiceStream becomes T-Mobile USA in 2002

T-Mobile Anti-Union Policies and Actions

  • December 2001 NLRB Complaint against VoiceStream (now owned by Deutsche Telecom)
    VoiceStream (Deutsche Telecom) promises that it will not threaten employees with reprisals if they support CWA, interrogate employees about union activities, suggest that workers will         be forced to quit due to activities on behalf of the union, or “interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed by Section 7 [of the NLRA]”
  • 2003 Anti-Union Manual. This 2003 manual includes sections on “The Union Free Privilege: “Preserving the union free privilege is an honor. It is a symbol of an employer who has been able to convince his employees that a very conventional method of outside advocacy is unnecessary. The privilege is revocable.”
    “Early Warning Signals of Unionizing Activity”
    “The Union’s Campaign”
    “How to Counter the Union’s Game Plan”
    “Union Vulnerability Checklist”
    A supplemental sheet advises supervisors to “Contact your Human Resources representative immediately if you hear of union organizing efforts."
  • Anti-Union Activities. Examples include pressuring workers to report on any union contacts, having security take down the license plate numbers of workers taking union leaflets, requiring captive audience meetings held by management without allowing equal time for the union, and denying employees access to information about unions and collective bargaining by prohibiting union representatives access to call centers and stores that are on private property.
  • 2005 anti-union T-Mobile Job Postings for Human Resources Staff. Under “Essential Duties and Responsibilities” in various 2005 job postings T-Mobile included “assists on appropriate interventions for the purpose of maintaining a productive and union-free environment” and “assists in developing continuous training on [such issues as union avoidance”
  • 2006 – NLRB finding that T-Mobile violated US Law. The NLRB found that T-Mobile violated U.S. law by having security guards tell employees not to take union handbills and by recording the automobile license plate numbers of employees who did take literature.
  • 2008 Anti-Union Memo to Front Line Managers. T-Mobile Human Resources distributed a memo to “front-line managers only. Please do not print, post or distribute.” The memo details exactly what managers should do “if CWA organizers attempt to communicate with T-Mobile employees.” The steps outlined in the memo are very similar to the steps identified in the 2003 manual.
  • May 2008 T-Mobile anti-union memo sent to retail store managers and employees.  In memo, T-Mobile asks managers in Oregon, Pennsylvania and, possibly other states to “cascade to your team [the employees] the following: any union activity must be reported to HR and the MM the same day of the activity including evening activity.” It appears that the same memo was sent to managers in Pennsylvania.
  • 2008 Anti-Union Activities. T-Mobile continues anti-union activities. For example, a CWA organizer in Pennsylvania recently reported that the level of fear among T-Mobile workers is very high. At the call center in Allentown guards walk around the parking lot whenever union representatives appear. Workers know they are being watched by security cameras. The organizer also reports problems at retail stores throughout the state. As soon as T-Mobile workers in retail stores see union palm cards they loudly state that they can’t take this information, hand the palm cards back, and ask the union people to leave immediately – all the while glancing nervously at the store manager.
  • 2009 TU exchange. Ver.di officials and Deutsche Telekom employees visit the U.S. in November and meet with T-Mobile workers. They visit a call center in Richmond, Virginia, and are kicked off the property and threatened with arrest. See video here.
  • 2009 ARAW publication American Rights at Work publishes "Lowering the Bar or Setting the Standard? Deutsche Telekom's U.S. Labor Practices" in December. Click for English or German version.
  • 2010: April: Press conference in Bonn, Germany. CWA, ver.di, UNI, and author John Logan announce the publication of the ARAW report in German. Press is widespread and favorable.
  • 2010: May: T-Mobile USA workers attend Deutsche Telekom Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Cologne, Germany.
  • 2010: July: Ver.di officials Ado Wilhelm and Kornelia Dubbel visit with tech workers in New York and call center workers in Fort Lauderdale. Both address CWA Convention in Washington, D.C.