The CWA, Communications Workers of America, labor union has spoken to the FCC about the proposed Sprint and T-Mobile merger, noting that it would cost the combined company about 28,000 jobs. The majority of these jobs would be in retail, with the combined company closing a large number of stores, seeing as there are many Sprint and T-Mobile stores near each other, particularly in malls and shopping centers, which would be duplicative and unneeded.
In a letter to the FCC, the CWA notes that around 4,500 jobs would be lost from the companies headquarters. Currently, T-Mobile operates its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington and Sprint’s is in Overland Park, Kansas. As a combined company, there will be plenty of duplicative functions at corporate headquarters – though the two have said that they will keep both headquarters. CWA president, Chris Shelton noted that “the proposed T-Mobile and Sprint merger is against the public interest. The merger would result in massive job losses totalling more than 28,000, while offering no countervailing benefits for the public.” Shelton goes on to say that unless the two companies are willing to make a “binding commitment not to eliminate jobs in the proposed merger” then the FCC should not approve the merger.
The merger between Sprint and T-Mobile is currently going through a review by the FCC and other regulatory bodies. While the deal has not been approved yet, it does look likely to be approved. And that’s why the CWA is working hard to make sure that it is not approved, as it would result in a huge loss of jobs. While the two companies say the opposite, it’s hard to believe that the combined company would keep many employees that serve the same function as other employees, after the merger is complete. It’ll be interesting to see if the FCC does take the CWA’s letter into account when approving or disapproving this deal.