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Disappointing Deutsche Post DHL reaction to Global Unions

Published: 22 April 2009
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Disappointing Deutsche Post DHL reaction to Global Unions




The reaction from Deutsche Post DHL CEO, Frank Appel, to the intervention made by the Global Unions to the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of the company yesterday was disappointing, said Neil Anderson Head of UNI Post & Logistics. The two global union federations the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and UNI Global Union were at the AGM to jointly press logistics giant DHL to work with trade unions



The two organisations believe that if DHL honours its stated commitment to respecting rights by working to achieve uniform standards and conditions for its workers worldwide, it will be able to enter a new era of cooperation that will benefit DHL, workers and shareholders alike.



However the messages given from the company as a result of the Global unions’ intervention were not satisfactory and did not in fact address the question that UNI and ITF posed to the AGM. Why doesn’t a global company have a global agreement with the global unions was the message given to the meeting yesterday. And the response from Deutsche Post DHL? Silence on that point.



When asking why the company doesn’t report on whether it meets the ILO Core Labour Standards, Dr Appel’s response was to refer to the company’s sustainability report which was released the previous day. But the Global Unions say this is an unsatisfactory answer as the report only contains a bland statement that; “We observe the International Labour Organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, in accordance with national laws and customs”. There is no evidence to back up this statement and indeed in the company’s report to the United Nations “Global Reporting Initiative” (GRI) they in fact “do not report” on two of those core labour standards, those being Child Labour and Forced Labour. The Global Unions say this is an unsatisfactory situation and that the company should enter into discussions with them to develop a proper global agreement that can have monitoring processes to ensure these are not just words on a piece of paper.



During the AGM Dr Appel referred to the cost cutting program that Deutsche Post DHL was undertaking where they were looking to save more than 1Billion Euros in overheads. UNI and the ITF have said that this means more than 300million Euros in cuts to employment. The unions want to be involved in discussing how the company can make cuts to costs as the workers are the specialists in the workplace and they can see ways to help the company through the financial crisis. Mr Appel’s answer was not to have discussions with the unions but to say the company was dealing with this through their “1st Choice” program!



The Global Unions also asked about the company’s disastrous foray into the US market (the company had to admit to the meeting that it had lost 7.5billion Euros in the US adventure) and how come they spent money on union avoidance which included using union busting firms. Dr Appel denied the company had ever had a union avoidance strategy and he said that they had worked constructively with the Teamsters union. The Global Unions believe this was a very disappointing reply as evidence from the US is that DHL encouraged it’s subcontractors to “Maintain a Union-Free status”. The Global Unions said that worker productivity increases through better labour relations and so “Let’s Talk”.



Respect and Results were also words used extensively by Dr Appel throughout his long address to the shareholders, and the Global Unions said his version of respect and results somehow doesn’t seem to include respecting workers rights and input. They said that results can only be achieved with a motivated workforce. Somehow this message got lost in Dr Appel’s carefully choreographed replies read from papers coming from his extensive team working behind the stage during the meeting.



Several other shareholders also talked about the US “misadventure” and wanted explanations as to what had gone wrong and if anyone would be accountable for such a huge loss. A shareholder who said she was a postal delivery person, was also very critical of Deutsche Post’s attitude to supposedly “voluntary” overtime, where extra work was normal and “voluntary” in reality meant regular extra workload. This shareholder and several others talked about a lowering of standards and lack of quality in postal delivery and that reliability and punctuality were being lost with increasing workloads and the increasing use of “precarious work”.



In general the shareholders who spoke were very critical of the company’s performance and the losses it had suffered particularly in the US market. The global Unions pressed the company for more dialogue and a proper global agreement for a global company but were disappointed in the “non response” from Dr Appel to that point.