News

SNTPT received a 2017 Breaking Through Award for their successful campaign at DHL in Senegal. The SNTPT has organized in difficult conditions, including employer hostility and workers’ fear of losing their jobs. The activists in Senegal developed and successfully implemented a plan to win the Works Council elections by standing union candidates.

Ibrahim Sarr, General Secretary of SNTPT-Poste, received the Award on behalf of the union. He said, “This is a sector that was not unionized at all, and we took them in our sights, and now we have been able to get a foothold in DHL. The result is that we have been organize shop stewards actions and won four seats on the works council to our union. We are working towards a collective agreement.”

The SNTPT achieved over 50 percent density in a workforce of approximately 150, and in the election they won four out of the five seats on the Works Council, guaranteeing bargaining rights with DHL in Senegal. They have contributed greatly to the joint training with others unions in DHL and are a text book example of how to conduct a successful organizing campaign around Works Council elections.