DHL employees demand respect as new report shows worker abuses
Workers at Deutsche Post DHL are demanding respect as they roll out a week of actions around the world to call for a global agreement to protect workers’ rights and highlight some of the abuses they face on the job.
A new report, compiled by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and UNI Global Union, reveals some of the company's commonly reported tactics to intimidate workers fighting for decent work and the right to unionise. These are alleged to include unjust sackings, harassment and discrimination, problems with subcontracted employees, instances of bad faith from the company and the use of lie detectors. It appears that union members are frequently the targets of these actions. The report includes stories from Bermuda, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and the USA.
Deutsche Post DHL claims it respects trade union and workers’ rights, but evidence from around the world suggests otherwise.
“The problem is that DHL and others seem to take advantage of a system of subcontracting [in Italy] whereby they appear not to assume responsibility for those workers employed by the subcontractors,” DHL workers’ delegate to the Italian union FILT CGIL Marco says in the report.
In Guatemala, a worker named Mario tells the story of how he believes he was fired because his boss found out he planned to attend a meeting for workers who wanted to form a union at DHL.
Deutsche Post DHL's reactive policy of compliance with national regulations clearly isn’t working – instead it breeds a management culture of ‘do what you can get away with’. Real respect for workers would involve a positive commitment to best practice. This is why the ITF and UNI are demanding a global agreement for DHL workers.
Workers will be taking action in at least 17 countries worldwide to fight these injustices. UNI, ITF and German union ver.di will hold a press conference today at DHL headquarters in Bonn.
For the full report and more information on the week of action go to: www.itfglobal.org/dhlblog
UNI Post & Logistics is the global union for the postal and logistics industry, representing 2.5 million workers worldwide. The ITF represents transport trade unions, with almost 5 million members globally.