Transportation Labor Urges U.S. Government to Revoke DHL's Air Freight License

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ — The Transportation Trades
Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) today urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to revoke the right of DHL Worldwide Express, Inc., owned by German postal giant
Deutsche Post AG, to operate in the U.S. as a foreign air freight carrier.
“Deutsche Post is using its government-derived powers and privileges in
Germany to unfairly compete against U.S. transportation companies and
their workers,” declared TTD President Sonny Hall. “U.S. workers who transport
and deliver mail, provide domestic and international express service and other
package delivery services must be protected from unfair competition. We
intend to speak out against and respond to any Deutsche Post conduct that harms
our members.”
TTD submitted comments today in a formal filing with the U.S. Department
of Transportation, in support of United Parcel Service’s petition for a
review of DHL’s authority to operate as a foreign air forwarder. The Federal
Republic of Germany owns 75 percent of Deutsche Post AG, which in turn owns 51 percent of DHL.
“Neither the Federal Aviation Act nor the Department’s own regulations
contemplate that a foreign air freight forwarder operating in the U.S.
domestic market would be subsidized by a foreign government,” TTD wrote in
its comments. “Such subsidization would undermine and contravene the stated
basis for permitting foreign air freight forwarders such access to the U.S.
market.”

Transportation labor charged that this arrangement does not promote fair
competition in the U.S., the world’s largest freight market. TTD last year
adopted a resolution urging the federal government to strictly enforce
U.S. antitrust laws and protect U.S. postal operations — both the U.S. Postal
Service as well as private domestic carriers –against foreign postal
conglomerates. It also urged Congress to address the problem by using its
oversight powers to review current laws and regulations and to guard
against unsavory conduct by foreign competitors.

Deutsche Post has acquired enormous resources, largely as the result of
charging 66 cents for first-class mail, the second highest such charge in
the world, and nearly twice the cost of the first-class mail in the U.S.
Transportation union leaders contend that Deutsche Post has used its
enormous government-derived resources to expand worldwide into the private sector and businesses-like express services.

“Deutsche Post is a mammoth operation with designs on the market share of
the U.S. Postal Service and the private U.S. transportation carriers that
combined employ several hundred thousand American workers,” Hall said. “We will
stand up to those who use their monopoly powers to engage in anti-competitive
activities that threaten the jobs of U.S. Postal Service and private
carrier employees.”
To obtain a copy of TTD’s filing with the U.S. Department of
Transportation, see