Deutsche Post DHL: UNI and ITF union federation intensify global campaign against the violation of workers’ rights by DHL

Lie detectors and bullying.  “Companies that do not embrace corporate responsibility as an integral part of their business model will not be as successful in the long run” declared Franck Appel on May 3, when presenting Deutsche Post DHL’s annual Corporate Responsibility Report 2011.  To what extent does M. Appel believe in what he’s saying?  The UNI Global Union and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) aren’t convinced that he is sincere as they used the group’s annual meeting to present a White Paper titled “Corporate Irresponsibility, Deutsche Post DHL’s Global Labor Practices Exposed.”  This 36-page long document details how the group, which employs 480,000 people – 150,000 outside Europe – tolerates or even perpetuates the violation of workers’ rights in many countries.  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.”  For her part, 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.”