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Wednesday, 20 June 2007, 14:34 GMT 15:34 UK

Deutsche Telekom gains union deal

Deutsche Telekom HQ in Bonn Deutsche Telekom has secured a deal with unions that will see 50,000 support centre workers accept both lower pay and longer working hours.

The cost-cutting agreement comes after six weeks of bitter walkouts at German's largest telecoms group.

The affected staff, at the firm's main fixed-line unit, will now see their pay cut by 6.5%, while their working week will go up by four hours to 38 hours.

In return, they will gain job security until the end of 2012.

Financial woes

Deutsche Telekom's T-Com fixed line division has faced financial difficulties in recent years, because of cheaper competitors in the traditional phone line sector and the growing number of people choosing just to have a mobile phone.

The company said it had to reduce salaries at T-Com, which has 80,000 workers in total, in order to improve its competitiveness. It initially proposed a 12% pay cut.

The deal with the unions comes after a week of talks.

Last month, the firm reported a 58% fall in three-month profits, after more than half a million customers left its fixed-line business.



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Related to this story:
Strike widens at Deutsche Telekom (14 May 07 |  Business )
Deutsche Telekom staff walk out (11 May 07 |  Business )
Telekom talks with union collapse (26 Apr 07 |  Business )
Telekom warns of likely disposals (17 Apr 07 |  Business )
Rivals squeeze Deutsche Telekom (01 Mar 07 |  Business )
Telekom network wins legal shield (23 Feb 07 |  Business )
Competition hits Deutsche Telekom (28 Jan 07 |  Business )

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