Action needed as report exposes DHL’s rule breaking

For immediate release: 7 March 2016

Action needed as report exposes DHL’s systematic rule breaking

FIRST Union is echoing concerns raised about global logistics giant DHL after a new report found the company guilty of breaking its own – and international – rules on the way its workers are treated.

The independent investigation carried out in Chile, Colombia and Panama exposes serious abuses and failings in the way the German-based multinational behaves. It follows similar findings in previous research carried out at DHL sites in India and Turkey.

FIRST Union organiser Jared Abbott said New Zealand-based DHL workers will send a message of solidarity to their overseas counterparts in light of the revelations.

FIRST Union has also written to the German Embassy with its concerns.

The report includes the story of a worker who sustained chronic injuries due to poor training, the case of 42 workers sacked for union activity, evidence of DHL faking a customer letter to fire the son of a union official, claims that DHL monitors employees conversations and evidence that DHL intercepts union members’ phone calls

“The company’s code should make DHL a beacon of good conduct in Latin America”, said the reports author, Dr Victor Figueroa Clark of the London School of Economics. “Sadly, the evidence from the workers I interviewed for my report paints an overwhelmingly different picture.

“The multiple, frequent and institutional anti-union practices described in this report are difficult to interpret as anything but the result of an anti-union policy originating from the heart of the company in Germany”.

The revelations have been released as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) process between DHL and the global unions comes to an end, and puts the company on the spot.

Steve Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), said: “The OECD process has failed to improve conditions for DHL workers. While we were negotiating in good faith, DHL was continuing to treat its workers in a way that breaches international standards. It’s time for DHL to engage in a robust, transparent process in consultation with staff and their unions to improve working conditions at the company and ensure freedom of association for all of its workers worldwide.”

FIRST Union is the union for DHL workers in New Zealand and part of the ITF’s global campaign to raise standards for all DHL workers.

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