New report shatters DHL’s good conduct claims

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Global trade unions will unveil a report into how Deutsche Post DHL treats its workers, at the company's AGM in Frankfurt today. They will launch a white paper entitled Corporate Irresponsibility, Deutsche Post DHL’s Global Labour Practices Exposed, which exposes a shameful track record of union avoidance outside of Europe and overuse of temporary or agency workers. Shareholders are being urged to help clean up the logistics multinational, and ensure that high standards are met throughout its operations.

The research carried out by UNI Global Union and the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) shows widespread and systematic abuses regarding freedom of association and precarious work. In country after country workers are fearful of retaliation if they try to organise a union. In many countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and India, subcontracted workers have been paid substantially less than regular workers while doing exactly the same work. In Colombia, Costa Rica and South Africa, the company has forced workers to submit to lie detector tests in spite of the company’s initial position that it did not tolerate the use of such tests. The company has also been fined substantial amounts of money for health and safety violations, notably earlier this year in the US where DP-DHL subsidiary Exel has been fined almost $300,000.

These labour rights violations directly contradict DP-DHL’s own corporate responsibility policies and its commitment to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which it signed in 2006.


The report provides a whole raft of evidence holding the company to account and demanding it meet its aspirations as a responsible enterprise in every country where it operates, not just in its home base, Germany. The campaign is being supported by the 175-million member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The unions will be raising the concerns detailed in the new publication with Deutsche Post DHL (DP-DHL) at its AGM at the Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, Pfaffenwiese 301, 65929 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, today. Present at this the shareholders’ meeting will also be Monica Okpe, a Norwegian DHL worker who recently won reinstatement after being illegally sacked for her trade union work. As well as targeting the company’s leadership, the unions will also seek to persuade shareholders that this is an issue for them too, and have written to them to say:

‘We find it unbelievable that a company of Deutsche Post DHL’s size and aspirations can find itself unable to put a figure to the number of agency workers it uses, even though many of them are on poverty wages and are being put at risk of injury and death. We find it unacceptable that DHL workers have suffered intimidation, bullying and worse, and that the company can’t even get its facts straight on the use of lie detectors against staff.’

The new report – available at http://www.respectatdhl.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; – investigates the company’s record on labour rights and treatment of workers across the globe. Philip Jennings, UNI Global Union general secretary, commented: “If I were a shareholder, I would be asking some serious questions at the meeting. DHL’s global practices are a definite risk to the company’s ethics, reputation and image. This new report shows a shopping list of labour violations. DHL clearly needs to address these concerns if it is to be seen as an ethical and responsible global operator.”

ITF general secretary David Cockroft stated: “At its best this company is very good indeed. At its worst it is racking up fines, allowing shameful abuses such as the use of lie detector tests and intimidation against innocent workers, and using workers employed on the cheap and with inadequate protection. Yet the high corporate responsibility ideals it aspires to are almost within its reach. It just needs to guarantee a decent standard of treatment for all its workers, not just some.”

Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), added: “DP-DHL’s corporate social responsibility mechanisms are failing. We would strongly advise them to do what their workers want, which is to engage in discussions about negotiating a global framework agreement that would set baseline standards for all the company’s personnel, and enable them and management to move ahead together to make DP-DHL even more successful.”

UNI Global Union and the ITF have been encouraging DHL to sign a global framework agreement, designed to ensure that the company respects the same core rights of its employees in every country in which it operates.

The unions’ concerns will also be raised in a leaflet they will be handing out to shareholders arriving at the AGM (see below).


The following is the text of the leaflet that will be distributed to DP-DHL shareholders:

‘A question for DHL shareholders

Are you worried that DHL might be putting its profitability and the wellbeing of its workers at risk?

Can it be right…?

…. That DHL is unable to put a figure to the number of agency workers it uses – although many of them are on poverty wages, work grindingly long hours and are being put at risk of injury and death by a failure to abide by the safety rules it upholds for its directly employed workers in Germany?

…. That DHL workers have suffered intimidation, bullying and worse? The company can’t even get its facts straight on the use of lie detectors against staff.

…. That DHL is denying many workers their internationally accepted and upheld labour rights including their right to join a union?

DHL’s moral compass has gone wrong

We urge you to help them get back on track

Dear shareholder,

Congratulations on selecting DHL Deutsche Post for your investment. You have chosen to back one of the world’s best known and most successful companies. We wish the company, its workers and shareholders a profitable and rewarding future.

But we have some worries.

We are concerned that the company is putting its success and the safety of its employees in jeopardy by failing to ensure that it has a skilled and motivated workforce in every country in which it operates. We are concerned that it is not living up to the high standards of social responsibility that it has set itself. We are concerned that in some countries people working for DHL are being underpaid, denied their rights, and subjected to bullying and intimidation. The bad publicity generated by recent labour court findings against the company in the USA and Norway show that there are areas that urgently need to be addressed.

You can find out more about the cause of our concerns by reading “Corporate Irresponsibility, Deutsche Post DHL’s Global Labour Practices Exposed”, our latest look behind the scenes at DHL, which you can find at http://www.respectatdhl.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We know that DHL can do better by treating every one of its employees with the respect that it currently offers to some – but not to all. We believe that the best guarantee of that is for it to sign a global framework agreement – a negotiated ‘bill of rights’ that sets out the minimum protections and trade union rights for all DHL workers and ensures accountability for the company and its shareholders.

As a shareholder you can help DHL both succeed as a profitable company and at the same time fulfil the corporate responsibility aims it aspires to. You can do this by:

• putting pressure on the company to open urgent talks with UNI Global Union and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) about a global framework agreement
• writing to DHL's CEO and board member for personnel and asking them to get behind negotiations with UNI and the ITF
• asking about DHL worker rights at the Annual General Meeting

UNI Global Union, the global union federation for trade and service occupations, represents 2.5 million workers in the postal and logistics sector worldwide. The ITF represents transport unions with 4.6 million members globally. Both are members of the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation), which

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Shareholders attending the annual general meeting (AGM) of Deutsche Post-DHL (DP-DHL) this week, have been hearing about the catalogue of abuses endured by some of the company’s workers after revelations contained in a new report were uncovered.

Ingo Marowsky, ITF organising globally coordinator, and Alan Tate, UNI campaigns director, were at the meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on 9 May, where they unveiled the white paper Corporate irresponsibility, Deutsche Post DHL’s global labour practices exposed. It reveals the widespread and systematic abuse of freedom of association rights and the excessive use of agency workers, who are frequently paid substantially less than regular workers for the same work.

It also outlines how in some countries, the company has forced workers to submit to lie detector tests and flouted health and safety regulations for which it has had to pay substantial fines.

These violations directly contradict DP-DHL’s own corporate responsibility policies and its commitment to the principles of the United Nations global compact, which it signed in 2006.

Marowsky raised questions about these abuses and urged the company to engage in substantive and ongoing dialogue with UNI and ITF.

Commenting from the event, Marowsky said: "We used this AGM to make public issues raised by unions around the world, including alleged transgressions by local managers of the rights of workers and unions. Sadly, chief executive Frank Appel's replies were not satisfactory; he said that dialogue in the respective local context was all that would take place, and that there was no systemic abuse. The call for global dialogue was ignored although shareholders expressed support. Hopefully, the incoming head of human resources, Angela Titzrath sees this differently, and we look forward to meeting with her on it."

UNI and the ITF are encouraging DHL to sign a global framework agreement to ensure that all employees no matter where they work are afforded the same core rights.

Watch ITF organising globally coordinator Ingo Marowsky speak live from the AGM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRma2TzE ... r_embedded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Click here for more information and download the report here.

[POSTMAN]

I remember stories about this a year or so ago,DHL are a serious nightmare.