20 House Democrats Demand Action on T-Mobile Labor Law Violations

Twenty House Democrats sent a sharply-worded letter to Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges demanding that the company take "swift and immediate action" to address multiple workers' rights violations at its American subsidiary T-Mobile US.

The letter, led by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI 2nd District), follows the German telecommunications giant's inadequate response to lawmakers' concerns over the treatment of its U.S. workforce. Members of Congress first reached out to Höttges after an administrative law judge (ALJ) at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found T-Mobile guilty of committing 11 nationwide violations of US labor law.

On Friday, they wrote, "We were therefore surprised when you replied that 'Deutsche Telekom has no indications that T-Mobile US is not treating its workers in a legal, fair and respectful manner,' and did not provide us with any additional information. Particularly, given that T-Mobile only appealed two of the 11 counts on which it was found guilty, it is not clear to us how there could possibly be 'no indication' that workers have not been treated in a legal manner. Indeed, since that ALJ ruling, at least four additional complaints have been filed with the NLRB regarding T-Mobile. Though those cases are still pending, the sheer volume of new cases raises concerns about the possibility that these violations of American labor law are ongoing."

CWA President Chris Shelton has been using every opportunity to get members of Congress to weigh in on T-Mobile's systematic campaign to block workers from exercising their right to organize and bargain collectively. Most recently, lawmakers have started to add their names to a petition urging the German Bundestag, or parliament, to use its shareholder power to pressure Deutsche Telekom into enforcing international labor standards at its locations abroad.