Union representatives express support for DHL employee

Union representatives of DHL Worldwide and Airborne workers in the U.S. and Europe expressed support for a DHL employee in Brussels whose dismissal provoked a short-lived job action by workers there.

Union officials from both sides of the Atlantic met in Washington to discuss “challenges created by Deutsche Post’s expansion and reorganization plans.”

The German mail and express company is the parent of DHL, which plans to acquire the ground operations of Airborne and spin off its air unit as an independent company.

The meeting demonstrated the potential for labor problems that could face DHL if the proposed acquisition of Airborne goes through. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents thousands of Airborne workers who would become DHL employees.

“We are deeply disturbed and dismayed by the reports from the European delegates that DHL and Deutsche Post management have targeted union workers by firing the senior trade union shop steward, Bert Verhoogen, working for DHL Aviation at its world headquarters in Belgium. Such action taken by the management is completely in breach of the Belgian law and unprecedented,” the London-based International Transport Workers Federation said in a statement.

The ITF urged DHL and Deutsche Post to reinstate Verhoogen immediately. It also called on them to “engage in labor relations policies which will respect the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively as well as the right of trade unionists to exercise their responsibilities without any company retaliation or interference.”