Taking It To the 'UnCarrier'

CWAers, joined by student activists from United Students Against Sweatshops and AFL-CIO union supporters, leafleted outside the T-Mobile annual meeting in Bellevue, Wash. The goal was to show shareholders and the public that T-Mobile, despite the advertising dollars spent branding itself as the “uncarrier,” is really just like Walmart, another documented labor law violator.

Inside the meeting, Amber Diaz, a TU member and former T-Mobile employee from Albuquerque, N.M., called on Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges to justify the $29 million salary paid last year to T-Mobile US CEO John Legere, while thousands of T-Mobile workers are paid wages that are so low that they qualify for government assistance, including food stamps and other aid. He responded that Legere’s compensation is competitive and he may even be underpaid.

Shareholders also voted on a proposal urging the T-Mobile Board of Directors to disclose how it assesses human rights risks in its operations and supply chain. The proposal was presented by The Marco Consulting Group, a Chicago-based registered investment adviser, and the AFL-CIO’s Office on Investment. It had the support of Institutional Shareholder Services, the leading proxy advisory firm.

The proposal was based on the United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which are endorsed by T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom in Germany, but shamefully, Deutsche Telekom, which owns 67 percent of T-Mobile US, voted against the proposal.