Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s Parent, Fails to Live Up to Its Claims on Labor Rights
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Teresa Casertano in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department’s Global Campaigns section sends us this report.
T-Mobile USA workers were not surprised to learn that a recent report by the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD revealed that T-Mobile owner, Deutsche Telekom, had failed to meet its own claims about corporate social responsibility. Under the corporate social responsibility reporting standards set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Deutsche Telekom gives itself an A+ rating, yet it provides little evidence to justify granting itself such superior marks.
The TUAC report details the company’s failure to report on global standards and finds that Deutsche Telekom highlighted its practices in its home country of Germany while failing to disclose its labor and human rights record in its non-German operations. The company claims 14 core labor and human rights indicators are “covered completely” in its GRI Report, while a fifteenth is “covered partly.” In fact, the TUAC report shows that only two are covered completely, seven are covered partly, and six are not covered at all. The TUAC report also finds that Deutsche Telekom disproportionately focuses its employee reporting on management employees while making little reference to its policies for tens of thousands of non-management employees. According to the report, only one of Deutsche Telekom’s 17 reported sustainability “Key Performance Indicators” relates to workers at all.
Sen. Cardin: New NLRB Rules Afford Workers the Right to Vote
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Speaking on the Senate floor, Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin (D) eloquently described why new rules proposed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last week would help level the playing field for financially struggling workers and their families. Statements supporting the proposed rule by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) follow.
“Mr. President, I rise today to praise the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for issuing new proposed rules that will modernize the process that workers use to form a union. These new rules will improve the consistency and efficiency of the election process [and] protect workers’ right to a timely vote….
America’s middle class is struggling. Hard-working families are finding it hard to make ends meet. We are recovering from the deepest recession since the Great Depression, and there are workers who are trying to achieve for their families what we all want: financial stability that keeps our families secure. However, as workers see their benefits, hours and pay being cut, they feel powerless. Meanwhile, executives can and do negotiate their employment contracts. Where is the fairness?
Unions can level the playing field for workers, but the process for choosing a union is outdated. Current NLRB election procedures produce extensive delays, encourage litigious stall tactics and provide opportunities for intimidation. Further, the organizational structure of the NLRB has created inconsistencies in the processing of the election petitions. It is time for the NLRB to address these important procedural shortcomings, and I am encouraged by their response.
McMahon Body Slams Minimum Wage in Conn. Senate Race
Connecticut’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon said yesterday Congress should consider lowering the federal minimum wage. She made the remarks at a press conference where day she received the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), a group that has long battled against the minimum wage.
On top of that, McMahon, the multi-millionaire CEO of the World Wrestling Entertainment, didn’t even know what the Constitution state’s minimum wage is—$8.25 an hour.
(E-mail Linda McMahon now and give her the facts: The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and Connecticut’s is $8.25. And neither is enough to live on.)
Says Connecticut State AFL-CIO President John Olsen:
It is outrageous that multi-millionaire McMahon is open to reducing the minimum wage, and mind boggling that she doesn’t even know how much it is. We have said from the very beginning that multi-millionaire McMahon is not looking out for the working people of this state and she certainly proved it again today. Read the rest of this entry »
17,000 San Francisco Workers Reach Tentative Pact, and More Bargaining News
17,000 San Francisco city employees reach tentative contract, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
NEGOTIATIONS
Multiple, City of San Francisco: Unions representing San Francisco city workers have reached a tentative agreement with Mayor Gavin Newsom to save the city $200 million and avoid shortening the workweek for 17,000 workers. If union members approve the pact, city workers will take 12 unpaid furlough days over the next two years.
30,000 CWA Members Ratify Contract with AT&T—and More Bargaining News
Some 30,000 Communications Workers of America members ratify a contract with AT&T, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
CWA, AT&T: Members of Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3 last week ratified a three-year contract with AT&T. The contract covers 30,000 workers in the Southeast. CWA District 1 in Connecticut is now the only region still in negotiations with AT&T.
Judge to Pratt & Whitney: Keep Work in U.S.
A federal court issued an injunction Feb. 4 against Pratt & Whitney, preventing the company from moving work and equipment out of their Cheshire and East Hartford, Conn., plants and keeping 1,000 hourly and salaried workers on the job. Machinists (IAM) District 26 had filed suit, saying the decision to move the work violated their contract.
The ruling stops the company’s immediate plans to move the work to Singapore, Japan and the state of Georgiia. The contract expires on Dec.10, 2010. IAM officials say the union is gearing up for a fight to preserve these jobs and expand opportunities in the next contract.
Jim Parent, assistant business rep for District 26, said:
We have a big job ahead of us now, securing these jobs in the next contract. We’re ready for a fight, if that’s what it takes. But we hope that after the dust settles, the company will recognize what we have said all along–these are the most highly skilled overhaul, repair and refurbishment workers in the world. Pratt may think that moving the work will save costs, but quality and reliability are crucial in aerospace operations. If they want the best performance possible for their demanding customers, Pratt should keep the work here.
Tanker Contract Would Create 44,000 Jobs in United States
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Remember the efforts by the Bush administration last year to tilt the competitive bid process in favor of giving a $35 billion contract to Airbus over Boeing?
Only after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld Boeing’s protest of the Air Force’s decision to award the contract to EADS/Airbus and Northrop Grumman did Defense Secretary Robert Gates cancel the competition for the Air Force’s refueling tankers.
John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, alerts us that the issue is back. In an op-ed in the Hartford Courant, Olsen points out that the French use billions of illegal subsidies to low-bid their contract proposal—and the Obama administration should insist the total value of any such Airbus subsidies are taken into account in the bidding to build the new tanker.
1,800 Boeing Workers Ratify Pact with Pay Increases—and More Bargaining News
Some 1,800 Boeing workers ratify pact with pay increases, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
UAW, Boeing: Members of UAW Local 1069 at Boeing’s Rotorcraft plant near Philadelphia ratified a new five-year contract yesterday, after their contract expired Oct. 1. The new pact covers nearly 1,800 workers and includes annual raises between 2 percent and 4 percent and improves pension benefits.
Connecticut Attorney General to Investigate Insurance Company Abuses
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The state of Connecticut has asked six leading insurance companies—Aetna, ConnectiCare, HealthNet, Anthem, United Health Group and WellCare—to fully disclose what they’re telling their members about health care reform.
The request comes after Humana, another insurance provider, was caught providing misleading and scare-mongering information to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D customers about the future effects of health care reform legislation.
The investigation follows a call by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka for more accountability for insurance companies and a serious examination of whether these companies’ political activity and lobbying are a contributor to skyrocketing rates and rising costs for consumers.
In recent days, Trumka sent a letter to Connecticut’s insurance commissioner, Thomas Sullivan, asking him to investigate the impact of health insurance companies’ lobbying expenditures on health insurance premiums and adopt regulations to prevent lobbying costs from being transferred to consumers through excessive rate increases.
2,000 City Workers Ratify Pact with Milwaukee—and More Bargaining News
AFSCME members ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
AFSCME, City of Milwaukee: Members of AFSCME Council 48 ratified a new contract with the city of Milwaukee. The 2,000 city employees agreed to a pay freeze for 2010 and 2011 in return for a no-layoff guarantee.
