WHEREAS, workers at T-Mobile have been struggling to have union representation for many years in the face of aggressive management intimidation;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile has been brought before the National Labor Relations Board on several occasions and been formally reprimanded for their disregard for labor laws in their heavy handed efforts to prevent workers from having a voice on the job;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile call center managers have gone so far as to write down the license plate numbers of employee cars leaving the employee parking lot who have been witnessed taking flyers from union organizers and been subjected to work performance evaluations the next day;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile technicians based in Connecticut, Long Island and Upstate New York seeking to vote on unionization have had their jobs and benefits threatened, been verbally assaulted by managers and further have been forced to sit through anti-union lectures on company time. Managers have also tried to force highly-paid T- Mobile engineers into proposed bargaining units in an attempt to dilute the vote of lowered paid workers;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile managers have also told workers they themselves could be fired if there is a positive vote for union representation, as well as telling them anyone not wanting to be in a union would be fired if there were a positive vote for representation. One manager is quoted in the complaint as telling workers; “If the union gets in, I will have to fire anyone who does not want to work in a union. I will have to walk them out the door the same day the union gets in here.” U.S. law clearly states union representation is the choice of the individual worker;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile USA management, supported by the German parent company, have engaged specialized anti-union lawyers to block employees’ attempts to get representation from the Communication Workers of America. The website of one of the firms openly advertises “union avoidance” as one of its specialties, listing T- Mobile as a “client it represents on a regular basis;

WHEREAS, T-Mobile is owned by German company Deutsche Telekom which has a different standard for German workers, allowing them to freely join a union while allowing its US subsidiary to routinely flaunt US labor laws;

WHEREAS, with the failed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, which would have allowed for union representation through majority sign-up, T-Mobile workers that are union supporters are being forced deep into the closet out of fear for their jobs are facing at the same time T-Mobile management’s decision to close 7 US based call centers and shipping their work overseas;

WHEREAS, in an effort to market itself to the LGBT community, T-Mobile recently made a financial contribution to the ballot initiative fight in Washington which would protect marriage equality;

WHEREAS, until numerous federal laws are changed and enacted, collective bargaining agreements are the only legally enforceable vehicle for LGBT workers to win vital benefits such as employment nondiscrimination and fully inclusive health benefits that let them support their families with dignity and respect; and,

WHEREAS, Pride at Work has long condemned employers that claim to support LGBT equality while aggressively forcing union supporting employees into the closet out of fear of losing their jobs.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride at Work calls on Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile to stop their double standard on workers’ rights to organize here in the U.S. in contrast with workers in other parts of the globe;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that T-Mobile cannot practice a double standard in regards to its’ LGBT employees equality and Pride at Work calls on them to stop the marketing campaign to the LGBT community while simultaneously engaging in tactics that prevent their LGBT employees from having the opportunity to gain legal recognition of their dignity, their families and their rights through a collective bargaining agreement;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride at Work calls on the rest of the LGBT community as well as national and state organizations committed to full LGBT equality to stand with those T-Mobile employees and to join Pride at Work in telling T-Mobile management that the employees want and deserve justice, not marketing; and,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride at Work encourages its members and local chapters to provide support and encouragement to the T-Mobile employees in their difficult struggle against a determined union busting and equality denying management team.