T-Mobile US Parent Company Celebrates "Respect and Integrity" Guiding Principle

T-Mobile's U.S. workers hope the telecommunications corporation would adhere to its parent company's values in Germany.

On September 25, T-Mobile parent company Deutsche Telekom wanted to celebrate "respect and integrity," one of the guiding principles the company prides itself on following. Across Germany DT workers, members of ver.di , used the day to show their solidarity with T-Mobile workers in the U.S. who are fighting against T-Mobile’s attacks on workers’ rights. The ver.di members wore stickers demanding that T-Mobile show respect and integrity toward U.S. workers.

Above, Ashley Charzuk, who works at the Albuquerque, NM, call center, says "we expect better."

German giant Deutsche Telekom celebrates every year one of its five "guiding principles" with big events and lots of talk about the importance of company values (http://www.telekom.com/guiding-principles). This year, the company picked "Respect and integrity guide our behavior."

Meanwhile, in the U.S., "Respect and Integrity" is hardly what T-Mobile workers experience from the company. Call center supervisors, for instance, make a habit of harassing workers for daring to organize their workplaces, including subjecting some, like a group of Harlem, NY, workers, to repeated captive audience interrogations, and firing activist workers.

The German government is the largest shareholder in DT. DT's workforce in Germany and the rest of Europe is largely unionized. ver.di, the union representing DT's German workers, has held many solidarity events as part of its continuing efforts to pressure DT into stopping T-Mobile's U.S. labor abuses.

To stand in solidarity with their coworkers in the U.S., hundreds of Deutsche Telekom workers wore stickers to work that read:

We have to live the guiding principles –
not just promote them.
Also at T-Mobile US.
Respect and integrity everywhere.

They also did workplace actions and handed out leaflets. A group of DT activists put together a leaflet detailing how Deutsche Telekom is not following their guiding principles when it comes to the workforce at T-Mobile US.

"We will continue to support this campaign with full force. We are looking forward to the next joint action," Michael K. from Dortmund said. "Greetings and solidarity to all of our coworkers in the United States."

TU members in Albuquerque, Wichita, Nashville and Springfield also wore stickers to work in support of respect and integrity for everyone.

Call center workers in Dortmund, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany support their U.S. colleagues.