Support for T-Mobile USA Workers Builds in U.S. and Germany

Activists from Massachusetts Jobs with Justice support Josh, an unjustly fired T-Mobile worker.

In Germany and the U.S., workers and allies are keeping up the pressure on T-Mobile and parent Deutsche Telekom, calling on the company to recognize the rights of U.S. workers to a union, a workplace free from intimidation, and respect.

In the U.S., activists from TU, CWA, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and United Students Against Sweatshops rallied at the T-Mobile USA annual meeting in Cambridge, Mass., calling for fairness for T-Mobile USA workers and justice for Josh Coleman, a T-Mobile USA worker and TU activist from Wichita, Kan., who was fired for being a union supporter. They also called on T-Mobile to keep the commitment it made to the Federal Communications Commission about maintaining jobs.

ver.di members stand up for Josh Coleman across their worksites in Germany.

Activists leafleted shareholders and raised concerns with T-Mobile executives outside the meeting, including CEO Rene Obermann, who is leaving Deutsche Telekom as of Jan. 1; Timotheus Höttges who will take over as CEO, and John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile USA.

TU activist Zelig Stern speaks with incoming Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges.

Meanwhile in Germany, ver.di members expanded their campaign calling on T-Mobile to respect and recognize workers' rights in the U.S. In a National Day of Action, activists wore shirts that read "We are all Josh," and called for an end to union busting. ver.di represents about 2 million workers, including workers at Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile.