WORLDWIDE – Acting on our story earlier today a Deutsche Post DHL spokesman has issued a statement in response to accusations from major labour organisations that the freight and logistics giant has treated workers badly and intends to hold protests at the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup which the group is sponsoring.
Firstly the statement in full:
“Deutsche Post DHL respects the rights of its employees and, in particular, the right to freedom of association. Deutsche Post DHL is guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the conventions issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Global Compact to which Deutsche Post DHL has been a signatory since 2006.
“Also in 2006, Deutsche Post DHL implemented a Code of Conduct which acknowledges our support for the UN Global Compact, and through which we commit to operating based on the principles of integrity, responsibility, ethical acceptability and legality. The Code applies to every employee in our Group and its subsidiaries around the world. We expect and require from our managers that they actively support our Code of Conduct.
“In our current Communication On Progress (COP) we confirm that: "We respect the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in accordance with national laws and customs. For these reasons we see no necessity for an international framework agreement for Deutsche Post DHL
“We do not tolerate violations against these principles. If we get knowledge of a violation we investigate every single case. In an organization with more than 470.000 employees you can not generally eliminate individual erratic behaviour.
“We are in a constructive dialogue with UNI and ITF on a global level, which will continue.”
The company has been plagued by bad publicity regarding its employment record in several global locations as reported in our stories in May and June and this latest campaign could be seen simply as a ratcheting up of pressure by the unions regarding the matter but these reports, and in particular a very positive article we published regarding investment by the group in the US, brought about a welter of complaints from disgruntled employees and ex employees who used the comments sections of the stories to air their views, many of which were unprintable.
Photo: Relations between labour and transport groups sometimes has an uneasy history.
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