DHL workers demonstrate for right to join union: ‘They have stomped on our rights’

BY GRACE TIERNEY | LINK nky REPORTER

The National Labor Relations Board has ordered an election for 900 DHL employs who petitioned to join the Teamsters Union Local 100 in September.

But a series of disputes leading up to that decision means the outcome of that order is far from certain.

The parties still disagree on the size of the proposed bargaining unit and whether the voting should be conducted in person or by mail. These are both issues that could lead to delays in setting an election date.

Before the ruling, DHL was engaged in the region’s most hotly contested union campaign at CVG Global Hub, where 3,000 employees receive and ship packages from all over the world.

“I do enjoy my job, but it could always be better,” said Steven Fightmaster, a thirdshift leader of the domestic ramp for DHL. “Right now, we don’t have any say in any of our working conditions.”

On March 21, DHL ramp and tug workers gathered to ask that DHL Express and its Germany-based parent company, Duetsche Post DHL Group, allow them to form a union – a right for workers under U.S. law.

Employees gathered alongside the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Interfaith Workers Center and Wesley United Methodist Church and planned to take their demonstration to their workplace on airport property, but were met with security blocking every entrance to the building.

As a result, the group moved its demonstration to a local hotel in nearby Florence.

DHL-CVG Workers United for Change was formed to fight for employees’ right to join the Teamsters Union in hopes of improving working conditions, members said.

Fightmaster filed one of 17 unfair labor practice charges against the company in the last 12 months, nearly triple the number filed against Amazon’s Northern Kentucky hub in the same period, according to reporting from WCPO. The Teamsters claim the company is violating a national neutrality agreement between the union and DHL.

In the last four days, organizers staged two public demonstrations at the company’s Northern Kentucky headquarters, calling on management to recognize the union without an election and stop interfering in their organizing efforts.

“The Teamsters represent 6,000 DHL workers out of 10,000 in the country,” said Teamsters Organizer Andrea Staples, who is active in the Northern Kentucky campaign. “We have agreements at other sites where workers do not have to go through the NLRB process. We don’t understand why this group of workers is being treated so differently.”

DHL declined to be interviewed by local media but released a statement.

“We respect the rights of our workers and always prioritize the safety and welfare of our workforce at CVG and elsewhere. We also respect their right to unionize within the confines of the law and are committed to all agreements that we have with our local, national and international labor partners,” the company said.

Fightmaster joined DHL 19 months ago and makes $25 an hour. He claims he was never offered any of the twice-a-year raises he was told he’d be eligible to receive during the hiring process and has worked in unsafe conditions. So, when a friend asked if he’d like to join a union, Fightmaster joined the cause.

“They can fire us for any reason or no reason at all, as we are at-will employees,” he said. “Getting a contract, becoming justcause employees and being able to bargain and negotiate for our futures and our families I think is going to be really important.”

Here’s how Fightmaster claims the company interfered with his organizing efforts.

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“The security contractor that DHL employees has forcibly removed me from the working parking lot” when he talked with employees after work,” Fightmaster said. “Members of that same company have followed me off the property before in unmarked vehicles.”

The NLRB ruling sided with the union on the size of the proposed bargaining unit by confining the election to 900 ramp agents and tug operators who haul and unload cargo. DHL wanted the vote to include all 3,000 hourly employees who work for DHL’s joint venture partners and sorting operations.

Unions often prefer smaller voting units where its organizing efforts have been concentrated, according to Jim Allen, founder of National Labor Relations Advocates, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm that helps companies navigate union elections. Companies, on the other hand, like bigger bargaining units because it makes it more difficult for unions to achieve a majority vote.

“In meetings I’ve had upstairs, we discussed the union when they first caught wind of it back in June,” said Ryan Doyan, who was once a supervisor at DHL. “I’ve seen people who’ve supported this union for the past year be terminated unjustly. They have stomped on our rights, they have stomped on us personally. If you are not a yes man, you have no standing within this company.”

Doyan has since stepped down from his position as supervisor because of what he called the company’s harsh retaliation toward the idea of a union and to avoid management altogether. He is now within

“I did not want to be a part of that culture anymore,” Doyan said. “Here I am, an employee of DHL. This has to end. We have to get a union to have better representation for all of us on the line.”

Northern Kentucky University assistant professor Cris Biazzin told LINK nky that while Northern Kentucky may be seen as a logistics hub to its optimal location for distribution in the United States, discussions about unions, the fair distribution of earnings, equity, and wealth have become increasingly prevalent.

“One way that workers can advocate for their rights and negotiate with powerful employers is through unionization,” Biazzin said, though she believes it can lead to negative impacts on the regional economy.

Workers at DHL called upon members from The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who represent over a million working people in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, to support their case to form a union.

Biazzin said Teamsters are known to use strikes and other tactics to garner support.

One representative from IBT shared his support of the workers from DHL and their case to be unionized.

“I’ve spent eight months on this campaign,” said Nick Prather of IBT. “I’ve gotten to know these workers, their families, their kids, their parents, their spouses. This is a reflection of this community today. I’ve been in every neighborhood in NKY, this is where these workers live, work and spend their money. The idea that DHL doesn’t care about that community is atrocious. 90% of domestic freight goes through this facility. These people, ramp and tug workers, are the most underrepresented group for DHL. This is a union driven company and they have denied these rights in every way possible.”

A followup meeting with DHL Express was requested by the community leaders present in support of the DHL Workers United for Change no later than April 1, 2023. Prior to that deadline, parties involved will decide the details of a potential vote for a union.