T-Mobile layoffs show need for worker voice at T-Mobile

Reports indicate that T-Mobile has laid off hundreds of Metro by T-Mobile workers even though its merger with Sprint is not yet final. CWA’s comprehensive economic analysis has found that the merger will result in the loss of up to 30,000 jobs.

“T-Mobile is so eager to pad its executives’ bank accounts that they couldn’t even wait until the merger has gone through to start firing people,” said Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton. “Since this deal was first announced, we’ve been sounding the alarm that the merger means tens of thousands of job cuts are coming. Sure enough, here they are. If the merger passes the final hurdles, we can expect thousands more. That’s why these workers need a voice at the table to protect their jobs and wages.”

Background:

The merger has not yet received final approval. In December, CWA filed a petition with the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking to vacate the FCC order approving the T-Mobile-Sprint merger on grounds that it violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) among other federal laws. In addition, the California Public Utilities Commission plans to vote on the transaction in its April 16 Commission Meeting.

While T-Mobile and Sprint are making vague promises that the merger will create thousands of jobs in the US, the data and the companies' track records tell a different story.

Wall Street analysts project that the merger will result in massive job cuts from the elimination of retail stores. When pressed on the issue at a Senate hearing, T-Mobile CEO John Legere conceded that "there'll be a rationalization of jobs in the first year" - a corporate-speak admission that the merged company plans to lay off thousands of workers.

Collective bargaining can help counter the effect of mergers on jobs and wages, but T-Mobile and Sprint have long histories of hostility toward employees’ efforts to organize a union, violating workers’ rights and sending jobs overseas.

Workers at T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile have been organizing for a voice and fair treatment at work as part of T-Mobile Workers United (TU), which is affiliated with CWA and ver.di, the union that represents German telecom workers at T-Mobile and its parent company Deutsche Telekom.

Links:

T-Mobile layoffs show need for worker voice at T-Mobile (CWA, Feb. 28, 2020)