T-Mobile USA scrutinized for its labor practices

T-Mobile USA Inc. was chastised for its labor relations in a report by the American Rights at Work Education Fund.
The report, “Lowering the bar or setting the standard? Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. labor practices,” claims that the wireless industry’s No. 4 carrier and its parent company Deutsche Telekom AG operate on a double standard allowing its German workers to “cooperate closely with unions, but mistreats workers in the United States and interferes with their right to organize.
“Respecting workers’ rights and needs benefits employees, their families, and a company’s bottom line. T-Mobile’s parent company became a leader in the telecom industry in Europe by working with their employees and proving that there is a better way to do business,” says Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work Education Fund. “It is inexcusable that our dysfunctional labor law system allowed T-Mobile USA to disregard its employees’ rights here in the United States.”
The situation has also garnered the attention of U.S. Representative George Miller (D-Calif.), who is chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
“The report documents questionable labor practices plaguing T-Mobile and highlights the clear need to better protect workers’ fundamental rights in the United States,” Miller said in a statement. “While the parent company, Deutsche Telekom, promotes positive labor relationships with its workers in Germany, and while many expected a similar approach to its workers in the United States, today’s report indicates that T-Mobile is not a chip off the old block. American workers deserve better.”
In its defense, T-Mobile USA cited employee satisfaction surveys as well as accolades it has garnered in the media.
“T-Mobile USA respects our employees’ rights to decide whether to join a union or not, and believes that it is employees who should make these decisions,” the carrier noted in a statement. “To date, our employees have chosen not to join any union. T-Mobile USA does not interfere with our employees’ right to organize. T-Mobile provides an employee-friendly workplace where our people enjoy excellent working conditions, competitive pay and benefits, and direct, open and frequent communication with managers. This approach has been successful as evidenced by the multiple anonymous third party employee satisfaction surveys taken over the last several years which show that more than 70% of T-Mobile‘s 40,000 employees are very satisfied with their employment, placing T-Mobile in the top 25% of all companies surveyed in the United States.”