Labor & Employment Law

German Workers Rally in Solidarity with Wisconsin Public Employees

By admin

Teresa Casertano in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department sends us this report.

As tens of thousands of Wisconsin residents rally and march across the state tomorrow for the fourth weekend in a row, they will receive support from union members in Berlin who are holding a solidarity rally. Members of the German telecommunications union, ver.di, will turn out to to support bargaining rights for workers in the United States. They know that collective bargaining is not possible unless workers are able to join unions and participate in their own organizations free from the fear of reprisals by their employers.

In a letter to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is trying to take away the right of public employees to bargain for a good, middle-class life, Frank Bsirske, chairman of the United Services Union ver.di of Germany, said Walker?s ?proposed unilateral action? is:

an attack on one of the fundamental pillars in a well-developed democracy, where social dialogue and collective bargaining through trade unions secure constructive relationships between employers and employees. This kind of relationship has proved its high value in many countries, both in times of economic growth and during crisis.

The ver.di members are part of a global effort with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Council of Global Unions, UNI Global Union and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to organize 40,000 T-Mobile USA technicians, call center and retail workers all over the United States. T-Mobile is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, a German company that employs nearly 132,000 workers in Germany, most of whom are ver.di members. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom respects workers? right to belong to the union and engages productively with the union through collective bargaining.

Ver.di members have learned about the reality for T-Mobile workers in the United States, as T-Mobile USA workers have told stories of being instructed to turn in their colleagues for receiving union materials or to report any gathering of workers, even if they take place in the evening or on weekends. U.S. workers described their terror of even learning about their rights fearing that any demonstration of interest in the union would result in reprimand, reprisals surrounding promotions or opportunities for advancement, or outright dismissal.

Ver.di was shocked and disappointed that a German employer that has participated in dialogue and collective bargaining in its home country would stoop to the worst union-busting practices in its operations in the United States and other countries. Because they expect better from Deutsche Telekom they have taken a leadership role along with the the global labor movement to carry out a coordinated campaign to ensure that all Deutsche Telekom/ T-Mobile workers can exercise their right to organize and bargain collectively free from fear and intimidation.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on March 11, 2011 (boomark / email).