CEO says at DHL AGM he needs to know about activities in the Americas
Dr. Appel admits at DHL AGM he needs to know more about activities in Latin America
UNI and ITF were present at the AGM of Deutsche Post DHL to demand respect for employees all over the world and to question the management about their behaviour in respect of workers rights.
Representatives from UNI Post & Logistics and ITF met with Unionists from the local Verdi branch and distributed to the shareholders 500 DVDs with the UNI ITF “Respect” video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnOyql_iXIg ). This year the Unions shared the place in front of the “Jahrhunderthalle” in Frankfurt with pacifist organisations who demonstrated against the involvement of Deutsche Post DHL in Afghanistan and Iraq as the logistics company for the German army.
The representation of the global Trade Unions was stronger this year as 3 UNI and ITF speakers had the chance to ask the management questions about their financial report and their sustainability report for 2009. The 1½ hour speech of Mr. Appel was interrupted by peace activists who demanded the withdrawal of Deutsche Post DHL from any contract with the German army. Despite these incidents, the CEO tried to give a positive prognosis for the next year to calm down the shareholders who expressed their concerns for the very poor financial performance for the company in 2009 (Company’s reports are available under: https://www.dp-dhl.com/de/investoren/publikationen/geschaeftsberichte.html)
Ivonne Jackelen, UNI Post & Logistics project coordinator in Costa Rica, asked Mr. Appel if he is aware of the company’s behaviour in Latin America giving the example of DHL Panama using of lie detectors to interrogate employees. He had to admit in his answer to have no information about these activities of Deutsche Post DHL in Latin America. But he made clear that Deutsche Post DHL doesn’t tolerate the use of lie-detectors.
In response to a UNI question about the increasing accident and sick leave figures he did not really acknowledge the company had a problem and used the excuse of the bad winter weather to try and explain these increases.
Cornelia Berger, UNI Post & Logistics representative in Europe asked questions about the relocation of the EUHQ to Bonn, Leipzig and Prague and what were the financial advantages this step would bring to the company. Dr. Appel answered that this relocation, which cost 1000 jobs in Belgium, would be a long term optimization process and is not made for short term profits. In the unions view this answer was not a satisfactory response. They were also very dissatisfied with the response to a question about DHL’s part in a court case undertaken in the Netherlands where the company tried to ensure that it could avoid collective contracts for it’s mail deliverers. Dr. Appel tried to claim that paying drivers per piece was the wish of the employees and therefore the company was forced to go to court and fight for this payment system.
Regarding the job losses especially in the Supply Chain company, he explained this was a necessary reaction to the changed market situation due to the financial crisis. He tried to explain, despite statements made earlier in the year to investors, that the company had never used the crisis as an excuse and the employees in DHL are the source of success but sometimes lay offs are unavoidable.
Ingo Marowsy, ITF representative thanked the management for the improvements in the negotiations with the unions and for improved dialogue since the last AGM with the Global Union Federations, UNI and ITF. He asked about the CSR report as well as about an overall HR strategy in the different parts of company which Dr. Appel had to admit does not yet exist. The CEO also stressed that collective bargaining only takes place on national level and can’t be exported to other countries or regions and he stated that in his view salaries and working conditions of different countries can’t be compared. Finally Mr. Marowsky criticized the fact that not a single woman is part of the management, which Dr. Appel answered by detailing measures that were being taken in Germany to raise the gender balance in the management bodies.
The AGM showed very clearly once more the need for a global agreement with Deutsche Post DHL. The reports presented in the AGM were very focused on Germany and included the rest of the operations in a rudimentary way. A global agreement would create a global responsibility and force the management to look outside of the borders of Germany. And with this the workers representatives would have a real tool to monitor the company globally regarding their attitude towards their employees. Only by observing the agreements that is has signed such as the UNI Global Compact and by respecting the ILO Declaration of Workers Rights can the company ensure it really respects the workers and their rights as is demanded by DHL Deutsche Post’s key values.