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UNI Post & Logistics have been visiting Costa Rica, along with a representative of the German union ver.di, to work with the local UNI Post & Logistics affiliate, SITET who are trying to recruit union members from DHL Costa Rica. UNI has for some time tried to get local management to speak to SITET and meet with the UNI Project coordinator in Costa Rica, Ivonne Jackelen, who has been working helping to train SITET's DHL organisers. But DeutschePost DHL have refused to allow a meeting with local management.



So UNI Head of Post & Logistics, Neil Anderson and ver.di postal sector representative, Stephan Teuscher, went to Costa Rica and with SITET approached local management and tried to visit the Costa Rica Financial Services Centre which not only does work for the Americas, but is now also doing work from the recently closed Brussels European Headquarters of DHL.



The company has continued to refuse to meet the union representatives or let UNI visit the Service centre.



UNI, SITET and ver.di held a Press Conference during the visit to tell Costa Rican journalists of this anti union behaviour by the DHL company in their country. UNI's Press Release is below.



UNI has to say; DHL what have you got to hide? Are you practising Social Dumping in Costa Rica? Failing to allow UNI, SITET or ver.di to meet management or visit the centre leads to the conclusion that maybe DHL does have some thing to hide? Also UNI is concerned to find that the Service Centre is located in a "Free Trade Zone", where normal Freedom Of Association conventions do not apply and where the company is receiving many tax breaks. This means also that the DHL workers cannot demand their rights and makes a mockery of the fact that Deutsche Post DHL has signed the UN Global Compact.







UNI & ver.di at the Press Conference





Press release – 7 April 2010, San José, Costa Rica



Is DHL practicing social dumping in Costa Rica?



This is the question that representatives of UNI global union and the German trade union ver.di, are asking local postal workers union SITET in a visit to Costa Rica.



And unfortunately they cannot be sure what the DHL Company is doing as Deutsche Post DHL high level management in Germany refused to allow the trade union visitors to meet with local DHL management or to visit the DHL Financial Services Centre based in Costa Rica.



The Financial Services centre not only does work for all of the Americas but has recently been advertising for more workers to take over work from a Service Centre that has been closed down in Europe with the loss of hundreds of jobs.



What the visiting union delegation wants to know is; what does the company have to hide? Why will they not allow either the international delegation or the local trade union to visit the Service Centre or talk to the workers? Why won’t DHL start dialogue with a union in Costa Rica?



The unions are concerned that work is being transferred from a country where the workers are able to organize a union and have a collective employment contract, to a new location where the unions cannot be certain that human rights and workers rights are being respected.



Deutsche Post DHL has as part of their prime values, “Respect & Results”. The union delegation says not allowing unions to talk to local management or visit the Service Centre is a lack of respect for the basic rights of local workers.



“Workers and their unions need to be an integral part of the planning, dialogue and consultation on how the Service Centre will deal with the customers if this company is to be successful and workers jobs are to be improved. This is what we practice in Germany,” said Stephan Teuscher, from ver.di.



“We have serious concerns that workers will not have basic rights, and workers are not being allowed to join a union and to bargain their own working conditions. This is not respect and UNI global union is working with SITET to fight for respect and results for DHL workers in Costa Rica,” said Neil Anderson, Head of UNI Post & Logistics global union.



UNI global union is based in Switzerland and represents more than 20 million workers in the services industries in more than 150 countries world wide.



Ver.di has more than 2 million members who are workers in the services sectors such as Deutsche Post DHL in Germany.



SITET is the Costa Rica union representing more than 4000 workers in post & logistics, telecom and the electricity sectors.







For more information contact:

Neil Anderson, email: neil.anderson@uniglobalunion.org Mobile phone: +41 79 5082616

Juan Carlos Zuñiga, email: secretarioprensa@gmail.com, Mobile phone: +506 8996 0277