T-Mobile USA Inc. pulled job postings with anti-union language from its Web site, after protests from Switzerland-based international union group UNI.
T-Mobile USA spokesman Peter Dobrow said that the language of the ads was “a poor choice of words” and confirmed that “we’ve now removed that language from all of our postings.”
According to statements from UNI and outdated T-Mobile USA postings from other job sites, the ads for human resources positions included job description language such as “assists on appropriate interventions for the purpose of maintaining a productive and union-free environment” and “assists in developing and providing continuous training on employment law/Human Resources issues (i.e. sexual harassment, FMLA, documentation & discipline, positive employee relations, union avoidance, etc.).”
UNI complained to T-Mobile USA’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, that it found several ads with the anti-union language. The group said it was told that an old ad template was the cause, but then UNI said it found more of the ads.
“Although all the other articles have been removed, it seems that UNI are having to write to Deutsche Telekom over the same issue on almost a daily basis,” the union said in a Dec. 12 statement after reportedly finding another five offending ads, bringing the total to 10.
Candice Johnson, spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America, called the ads evidence of “T-Mobile looking for union-busting managers,” which could be construed as an employer illegally interfering in the process of workers deciding whether to unionize. She added that CWA has been part of the UNI effort to raise the issue with Deutsche Telekom.
“It’s behavior that would not be allowed in Germany or any other Deutsche Telekom subsidiary,” Johnson said. “The company is interested in working with the global union network, and that’s a two-way street.” She called the removal of the ads a good step.
Dobrow said the message that T-Mobile USA meant to convey was that it was seeking management employees who were aware of the rights of unions and employers, and that the ad language reflected outdated terms.
“Those job descriptions are intended to help ensure that candidates understand the rights of unions and all union-related activities,” Dobrow said. “`Union avoidance’ was a poor choice of words and really should be `union awareness”‘-which, he added, is what T-Mobile USA intends to use for future ads.
