News

At a seminar arranged by the FES and UNI Americas in Mexico City, on organising multinational post & logistics companies, unions from the UNI and ITF in the Americas set up a plan for closer work together. The unions have been discussing the need to help workers in the post & logistics industry, especially in the "big 4" express mail and parcels companies operating in the region, UPS, FedEx, TNT and DHL. The participants heard from unions already trying to get workers rights and union recognition in these companies and the difficulties they have in getting a decent working conditions, standards and the right to join a union for all workers in these companies.



The seminar was opened by the FES and UNI Americas Post & Logistics Director Cenise Monteiro who gave background on the economic situation facing post & logistics workers in the Americas.



The unions heard of efforts by the companies to stop union activities and the real need to have active and strong unions in the current economic situation where the companies are cutting costs, laying off workers without proper discussion and cutting wages and conditions to keep their profits up during the crisis.



Several presentations were made, one from the ITF Airport workers union in Guatemala, where the union has been working effectively in a very difficult environment for trade unionists with 17 murders of trade union leaders in the last few months. But still the Guatemala airport workers are working hard to get a decent union structure in place for DHL workers. Arturo Ruiz from the union gave a comprehensive presentation on the work his union was doing to organise DHL and UPS workers.



UNI Project Coordinator Ivonne Jackelen, who is coordinating UNI Post & Logistics work in UNI Americas with organising DHL and other express mail companies, also made a presentation giving delegates targets for what they can do in their countries and also helping them prepare for setting up the networks the project she is heading is trying to establish support mechanisms for post & logistics workers throughout the Americas to work together to get workers rights in the Big 4 express mail and logistics companies.