Dear Members,
You
will by now have been told the company’s proposal for
increasing employees’ pay and allowances over the next
three years.
The
UDW are meeting with senior managers at DHL and having frank
discussions. Part of the discussions involve the UDW claiming
their legitimate rights to consult with their members under
the 2005 European legislation of information and consultation,
a right that has now been acknowledged by the company. This
means we will visit our members in the very near future, at
their place of work and consult them on any matters that are
currently a cause for concern.
The
company’s proposals are very detailed and probably the
most radical changes to the working practices of DHL couriers
for twenty years. Historically, annual pay talks were all
about increases to pay and allowances, all other matters such
as, site closures, redundancies, and shift patterns were negotiated
separately.
The
company have stressed the link to self employed drivers is
necessary in order to afford higher pay rises in years two
and three. The UDW strongly disagree and believe pay increases
and redundancies must not be linked. We have requested more
information over the company’s long term plans for the
business. We pointed out that the company’s proposals
give the impression of a business slimming down and preparing
its self for a sell-off or a major downsize.
We
also wanted to know if the company was able to reassure the
UDW that there were no major plans to close service centers
or hubs. Senior management claimed that the parcel industry
was changing radically and that some companies in the business
were going bust due to fierce competition. They stressed DHL
were in this for the long haul, believing their proposals
for changes to the driver workforce would secure a future
for DHL. However, they were not willing to rule out site closures
but pointed out that they had no immediate plans to close
hubs, and definitely not on the scale that was being published.
While
the company has attempted to clarify their position, we feel
they have to work much harder on communication, in order to
restore some confidence to their employees. At present morale
is at rock bottom among the DHL workforce, with constant changes
in work practices, cutbacks, tracker issues and constant threats
of disciplinary action, all amounting to a very stressful
working life for DHL employees.
The
UDW feel its members deserve better; we expect our members
to be fully consulted and informed through their union, we
expect our members to be treated with dignity in a fair and
just manner and above all, we expect DHL to show our members
the courtesy of listening to their employees concerns, via
their chosen union. This is the very least a decent, responsible
company should afford its employees.
With
regard to the pay offer, we feel that the offer must be restructured
in such a manner that would make it more acceptable to our
members. We feel there is scope to resolve the pay negotiations
in a manner that is mutually beneficial to our members and
the company.
On
the matter of potential redundancies, we believe this matter
must be fully discussed in great detail. We understand that
each of our members have different needs and aspirations,
however we must ensure that we speak and consult fully with
them and represent their views in an honest and frank manner.
We will of course treat each of our members as an individual
and ensure they receive representation that meets their own
personal requirements.
It is vital to you as our member that you fully understand
that your employer is offering this award on condition that
they achieve a reduction of 70% of the driver force in favour
of self employed agents. This means that if there is acceptance
of such an increase, then almost 70% of drivers would never
benefit from it. We urge extreme caution among members considering
a self employed role as the UDW regard self employed contracts
as worthless and open to manipulation. We consider the ‘banking’
of hour’s proposal unworkable and open to abuse.
The
UDW have extremely experienced representatives who understand
the national agreements and procedures in place, indeed, these
national agreements were originally put in place by UDW representatives.
We have both the experience and expertise to represent our
members and that’s precisely what we intend to do.
We
will be in contact with you in the very near future.
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