An independent report by the London School of Economics (LSE) found DHL operations in Latin America breached internal – and international – rules on the way it is treating workers.
The investigation in Chile, Colombia and Panama exposes 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.
“The company’s code should make DHL a beacon of good conduct in Latin America”, said the report’s author, Dr Victor Figueroa Clark of the London School of Economics.
“Sadly, the evidence from the workers I interviewed for my report paints a different picture,” says Clark.
“The 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,” he says.
The LSE report arrives as an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) negotiation process between DHL and the global unions come to an end.
“The OECD process has failed to improve conditions for DHL workers. While we were negotiating in good faith, DHL was continuing to treat its employees in a way that breaches international standards,” says International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) general secretary Steve Cotton.
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,” says Cotton.
The FIRST Union is representing DHL workers locally and organiser Jared Abbott says it is writing to the German Embassy with its concerns as well as sending a message of solidarity to fellow DHL union members overseas.
