Allegations of labour violations - the case against DP-DHL
The OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises. These are agreed by 42 countries and enforced by national governments.
UNI Global Union Deputy General Secretary, Christy Hoffman said, “DP-DHL is the largest logistics company in the world. DP-DHL is breaching the global standards for multinational corporations to conduct responsible business. As Germany is one of its major shareholders, we, along with our partner, the ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation, are asking the German government to step up to its responsibility to take action. We are bringing this case to ensure that DP-DHL adheres to the OECD guidelines and its global workforce is treated with respect and dignity.”
UNI and ITF’s concerns have been documented over a litany of labour violations. However, DP-DHL has not given any concrete answers or assurances.
In Turkey DP-DHL has run a sustained and coordinated strategy to limit workers’ freedom of association, including the firing of a group of workers during an organising campaign, under the pretext of “poor performance” and other vague notions of company policy. The Turkish Labour Court has heard eight of the cases of dismissal so far and in all eight cases the company’s reasons for the dismissals were ruled invalid.
“DP-DHL Chief Executive Frank Appel went on record recently as saying that the circumstances around the firing of more than 20 workers in Turkey are being investigated. We have seen no evidence of this investigation on the ground. This is the latest in a catalogue of DP-DHL’s failures to control its global operations. We are still open to meaningful discussions with the company but we expect them to take these allegations seriously and act promptly,” said Ingo Marowsky, Organising Globally Coordinator, ITF.
The case alleges that DP-DHL has adopted a deliberate strategy to limit unionisation in many countries including Turkey, Indonesia, Malawi, Vietnam, Colombia, Guatemala, Hong Kong and the USA. A commitment to human rights is central to the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises as is clear standards of conduct for industrial relations, including a respect for the right of workers to establish or join trade unions and the right to collective bargaining.
The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Federation (ITUC), Sharan Burrow said, “We want to see DP-DHL meet global labour standards. The evidence put forward in these allegations seems to point to an unacceptable shortfall across DP-DHL’s network.”
UNI and ITF examined corporate documents and investigative reports and have conducted extensive interviews to uncover the truth about the company’s working conditions and management practices. (See links to reports below)
UNI and ITF want a negotiated settlement with DP-DHL that will address these serious violations of the OECD Guidelines taking place throughout its operations. DP-DHL must markedly improve its due diligence monitoring and response and ensure its global workforce has the right to organise and the right to decent work free from intimidation.
The OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises is a series of global standards “addressed by governments to multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries” (which includes both Germany and Turkey). A commitment to human rights is central to the Guidelines as is clear standards of conduct for industrial relations, including a respect for the right of workers to establish or join trade unions and the right to collective bargaining.
Key Documents:
- For OECD case see DHL OECD- EN in Related Files above.
- See DHL Factsheet in Related Files above.
- Aggressive and Unlawful: A Report into Deutsche Post DHL Operations in Turkey
- Corporate Irresponsibility: Deutsche Post DHL's Global Labour Practices Exposed
- Respect at DHL website
- #respectatDHL on twitter
- Respect at DHL on Facebook
- Respect at DHL photo stream on Flikr
For more information or interviews, please do not hesitate to contact:
UNI Global Union
Richard Elliott, UNI Global Union
Communications,
Richard.elliott@uniglobalunion.org
+41 79 794 9709
ITF
Sam Dawson, Communications
dawson_sam@itf.org.uk
+44 (0) 20 7940 9260
ITUC
Tim Noonan, Communications
press@ituc-csi.org
+ 32 2 224 0210