 Deutsche Telekom is put under pressure by German rivals |
German phone firm Deutsche Telekom has threatened to sell off parts of its business unless a fifth of staff agree to pay cuts and longer working hours. The warning comes as its main trade union continues to oppose the firm's plans to reduce the wages and increase the working week of the 50,000 workers.
Deutsche Telekom has said that in return for the new contracts, it will guarantee the affected jobs until 2011.
The firm needs to cut costs after two profit warnings in two months.
"If we cannot find a compromise, we may have to consider a sale of some of the parts," said Deutsche Telekom's chief financial officer Karl-Gerhard.
Restructure
Deutsche Telekom - Europe's biggest phone company by sales - wants to transfer the 50,000 fixed-line customer service positions to a new division called T-Service.
This planned unit will merge its fixed line and broadband call centres, with staff accepting 12% pay cuts and longer hours.
Some 12,000 staff have already staged a number of temporary walk-outs in protest at the plans.
The shake-up of Deutsche Telekom's fixed-line unit comes after years of declining traditional phone sales as stiffer domestic competition has taken business away from the former telecoms monopoly.
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