CWA, German Telecom Union Create Alliance to Help T-Mobile Workers
To better fight the inequity between T-Mobile employees in the United States and those who work in Germany, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and ver.di, the German telecommunications workers union, announced today they are forming a special alliance to create TU—a union for T-Mobile workers.
CWA President Larry Cohen told a press conference in Washington, D.C., this morning unions must develop unique partnerships like this one to operate in a global economy dominated by multinational companies. TU will give T-Mobile USA employees, who do not have a union, greater strength to fight the company’s anti-worker practices.
Aldo Wilhelm, the ver.di employee representative on T-Mobile’s supervisory board in Germany, said the company operates differently in Europe than it does in the United States. T-Mobile’s parent, Deutsche Telekom, respects workers’ rights and collective bargaining in Europe, he said.
Global Inequality, Workplace Deaths Increase—No Coincidence
Two new reports paint a sobering picture of what growing global inequality really means. Not only are wages continuing to drop, lowering the standard of living for millions of workers and increasing the wage gap, but evidence is emerging that rising inequality can be bad for your health.
First, the International Labor Organization (ILO), an arm of the United Nations, reported in its “Global Wage Report: 2009 Update” last week that global growth in real wages slowed dramatically last year and is expected to drop even further this year. The report found that in half of the 35 countries for which figures are available, real monthly wages fell in the first quarter of 2009 compared to their average of 2008, often due to cuts in hours worked.
Unions Pushing for Global Jobs Policy
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The global union movement is pushing hard to make sure the issue of jobs is high on the agenda when leaders of the G-20 governments meet in Pittsburgh in September.
Around the world, unemployment and lack of decent work are devastating economies. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that another 20 million women and men soon could be out of work.
A plan developed by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) calls for G-20 governments to spend at least 2 percent of their nation’s gross domestic product on solving the crisis. Currently, European nations are spending no more than 1 percent. The plan urges a coordinated international recovery and sustainable growth plan to create jobs.
Sweeney, Global Unions Call for Stronger Stimulus Measures
Workers are the innocent victims of the worldwide economic crisis and their governments must take stronger actions to stimulate the global economy, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told the leaders of the world’s top economies today.
Governments should ensure that their recovery measures are big enough to maintain and protect jobs and provide social protections, Sweeney told the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) annual forum June 23-24 in Paris.
AFL-CIO Opposes Panama Deal, Calls for Trade Policy Review
BREAKING: President Obama has delayed moving the Panama trade deal because of union objections. Read more here.
Congress should not consider the U.S.-Panama trade agreement until Panama implements labor law and tax reforms and the Obama administration lays out a comprehensive, principled trade strategy for the United States.
Testifying before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today, AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee said the union movement will oppose the Panama deal unless these issues are resolved.
The AFL-CIO has called on Panama to bring its labor laws into compliance with the International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) minimum standards. For example, Panama’s laws effectively prohibit the forming of a union in most workplaces and seriously limit the right to strike. A growing problem in Panama are the laws that allow employers to circumvent unions by repeatedly hiring the same workers on a temporary basis, rather than hiring them as full-time workers, Lee said.
