Washington, DC - On January 11, T-Mobile and Sprint submitted a new filing to the New York Public Service Commission, which is reviewing the effects of the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger on New York. Contained within the filing is a new jobs-related pledge from the companies, asserting that the New T-Mobile will maintain the same number of direct employees in New York, as judged by W-2 filings, for at least the first two years following the merger.
While the companies’ new jobs commitment is a small step in the right direction and an acknowledgment that job loss concerns are directly relevant to the public interest standard used to review the transaction, the W-2 pledge is insufficient - and even misleading - for a number of reasons.
The companies’ pledge would still allow job cuts for authorized dealers, who comprise nearly 70 percent of the retail workers potentially affected by the merger in New York. These workers spend their days selling nothing but T-Mobile and Sprint services, but receive their paycheck from an authorized dealer. Additionally, the companies’ pledge would only apply to New York and not the rest of the country, and ignores the importance and relevance of returning call center jobs from overseas that that companies have offshored.
CWA maintains its assessment that the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger, as currently structured, is against the public interest in New York and that the NY PSC should deny the companies’ petition to merge.”
Press Contact:
Beth Allen
[email protected]
202-434-1168
Amy Fetherolf
[email protected]
202-434-1168
