Respect For Workers

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Contenu de la page: Accueil > Magazine Transport international > Issue 38 - January 2010 > Respect for Workers

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Deutsche Post DHL has almost half a million employees. So why isn’t it respecting their union rights?

1. The campaign

Workers at Deutsche Post DHL are fed up. They face thousands of job cuts, an insecure future and uncertainty around management’s handling of the impact of the global economic crisis.

This is just one of the reasons that the ITF and its fellow global union UNI have launched a campaign demanding respect for workers.

“DHL is a global operator in the field of courier, express and parcel delivery, “ says Ingo Marowsky, ITF global organising coordinator. “Unfortunately their standards of social responsibility and trade union rights do not come up to standards we find acceptable.”

“We are taking a campaign to the company to get good workers’ rights and proper worker participation globally,” adds Neil Anderson, head of UNI post and logistics.

The campaign is calling for: 

men and women who work in DHL to be consulted on and have access to information on the company’s strategy, aims and activities 
the just treatment of all workers to include full union rights and the application of best practice standards in business 
a global agreement for a global company.

2. The mission statement

UNI and the ITF are campaigning to ensure that Deutsche Post DHL acknowledges its social responsibility as an international employer.

Working with Deutsche Post DHL workers and their unions throughout the world, they are demanding that the company deploy a consistent worldwide social policy that recognises and respects labour rights.

3. The company

DHL is owned by Deutsche Post, the commercialised company that came out of the German postal service in the 1990s.

DHL is the brand for international postal services and logistics, and is one of the so-called ‘big four’ in global delivery (along with UPS, FedEx and TNT).
The parent group is a massive employer, and was ranked 54 in the most recent Fortune 500 list of the largest global companies.

DHL’s international network links more than 220 countries and territories worldwide and employs around 300,000 workers. Like many companies, DHL has a good relationship with unions in its home country, but varies in other areas, and is negative towards unions in some regions.

“The majority of DHL workers do not have a union, a collective contract or real workers’ rights. DHL also has its headquarters in Germany, a works council structure there,
a European Works Council and a history in Europe of worker consultation,” said Neil Anderson. “This is a company that should be operating this way in the rest of the world, and it isn’t.”

4. The global players

The campaign is being coordinated by the ITF and UNI, the global union that represents the post and logistics sector (among others).

This is a groundbreaking campaign at the global level, which will reach out to thousands of workers. It is a “blueprint”, says Anderson for future work between the global unions.

More than this, the campaign offers a chance to change the way that Deutsche Post DHL operates.

“If we all work together, we can make sure that all workers in this company have quality jobs with decent working conditions and rights to be consulted on the future of the company,” says Anderson. “This can only be good for all workers in the company. If some have rights and others don’t we will see deterioration for all. If all have rights we can work together for an improvement in conditions for all.”

Worker's story: Bermuda

When Sharisse Cann was diagnosed with leukaemia in January 2009, she was hopeful that DHL, as her employer, would be sympathetic.

Unfortunately, she was dismissed later that year. Her union believes this was a direct result of her illness and the need to take time off.

Sharisse was regularly out of the office whilst receiving treatment. But despite her illness, she still came into work as much as possible.

“In the last two months, I received a verbal warning for not looking after the work of my colleague,” says Cann. “They called me into their office, said my emails weren’t up to par and that I had been missing conference calls.”

The company put Sharisse on six months, probation. According to Sharisse, they offered her a deal: if she resigned they would pay her health insurance until January 2010.

Sharisse says she was confused: “I missed the conference calls because I was off sick.

But they’re telling me I’m not being dismissed because of sickness. If my work wasn’t up to par and it wasn’t because of sickness, why offer me a deal?”

“Despite being ill, I still tried to come to work and do my best.”

Sharisse was finally dismissed on 4 September. She hasn’t been paid since, the cost of living in Bermuda is high, and her situation is very difficult.

The Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) has been campaigning for an agreement in DHL since 2007, when it received certification for workers at the branch. Louis Somner, divisional organiser, says, “The company has stated Sharisse was fired for not completing tasks. But everyone knows that if you’re going through an illness like leukaemia you have some rough days.”

Sharisse’s case is just one of many, says Somner. He believes the company has used delaying tactics to prevent the union from bargaining collectively. “We reached 95 per cent agreement,” says Somner, “but the last issue was wages, and the company has gone to the labour department to try and decertify us.

As of 22 October, the BIU was still awaiting a response from DHL Bermuda’s lawyer as to whether they are going to reinstate Sharisse.

Sharisse’s family is considering taking her plight to the local media and retaining a lawyer. The union will continue to fight on for her and other workers.

Worker's story: India

Lakshmanan Bhaskaran started work at DHL in 1995, as a courier employed in the Chennai branch.

Lakshmanan founded a union at the company in 1999, and he says he started having problems with the management around this time. He says that the company collected a list of union officers in India, and a disturbing pattern of dismissals followed.

In March/April 2003, the Bangalore general secretary was dismissed; in May 2003 five union activists were suspended in Bombay, and in October 2003 Lakshmanan himself was suddenly terminated from the company.

DHL accused Lakshmanan of theft and illegal money making, charges he vigorously denies.

The company went to the police, and the case was featured in local media, causing Lakshmanan and his family considerable distress. The police closed the complaint in June 2005 as ‘undetectable/mistake of fact’.

Lakshmanan is now working with the ITF as an organiser in logistics, but is still affected by the way he was dismissed by DHL.

“I lost my entire career because of DHL management. Nobody gave me a job because of this issue,” he says. “I lost my reputation in society and I lost my personal life.”

“I’m still fighting for my rights, so that no more employees in DHL face such situations in their workplace,” says Lakshmanan. “Everybody should have job security, and should never lose their reputation at the workplace at any cost.”

Partie Accueil:
Issue 38 - January 2010

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