DHL-Teamsters Strike Ends as Amazon Workers Prep Stoppage in Spain

Glenn Taylor
·4 min read
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DHL Express reached tentative agreements on “a number of issues” within their ongoing negotiations with the Teamsters on Tuesday, ending a 12-day strike at the logistics giant’s air hub in Northern Kentucky.

The contract, yet to be ratified by the Teamsters-represented workers, includes provisions for enhanced workplace safety, higher wages and better benefits, the union said.

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The unfair labor practice strike pulled roughly 1,100 tug and ramp workers to the picket line during the holiday season, when workers can handle up to 400,000 packages per shift. The employees who were on strike are responsible for loading and unloading packages from planes at the Hebron, Ky. facility, which is located about 25 minutes south of Cincinnati. During the strike, picket lines extended to various locations in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

According to Bill Hamilton, director of the Teamsters Express Division, the terms of the deal include wage increases that total $5.50 per hour over the course of a four-year contract, as well as full health care at no cost to employees and a $1,000 signing bonus.

DHL Express, the expedited delivery unit of DHL, employs roughly 5,000 people at its air hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), its largest in North America. The hub facilitates 130 daily DHL flights and is home to a fleet of 60 DHL aircraft. The company also operates North American air hubs in Atlanta and Miami.

The workers at the DHL air hub voted to unionize in April and contract negotiations began in July. The strike was approved after DHL leadership decided to halt the month-long negotiations for most of December, before offering to restart talks with the union in January.

A DHL representative told Sourcing Journal there are additional details to be finalized, and that the company will “remain committed in continuing to bargain in good faith until a final agreement can be reached.”

“During these last few days, DHL Express proactively deployed contingency plans to ensure that our customers received the high service levels they expect from us at this important time of the year for their businesses, and we minimized the potential disruptions that can typically occur within our industry during peak season (due to weather, volume surges etc.),” said the representative.

The temporary agreements allow for the air hub’s operations to resume with all employees on duty, with the spokesperson saying DHL customers “should remain confident in our ability to provide the excellent service they expect and require.”

Since DHL-CVG workers began organizing with the Teamsters, the union says it has filed “dozens” of unfair labor practices against the company with the National Labor Relations Board. Charges include retaliation against pro-union workers, surveilling workers discussing the union off site and intimidating workers on the picket lines.

“DHL engaged in aggressive union-busting tactics and committed numerous unfair labor practices that made the strike necessary,” said Fred Zuckerman, general secretary-treasurer, Teamsters, in a statement. “Members of Local 100 came out in this fight on top and helped us send a message to all workers that we can reclaim what we’ve earned when we fight shoulder-to-shoulder and refuse to back down.”

As one logistics strike concludes, another will begin early in 2024.

Approximately 160 workers at an Amazon fulfillment center in Trapagaran, Spain will walk off the job for the three-day stretch from Jan. 3-5.

The strike follows a similar labor action that occurred Saturday at midnight through Monday.

“Despite the company’s huge profits, the managers of the Trapagaran factory show no willingness to negotiate the improvement of working conditions that the workers have been demanding for a long time,” said a statement from the LAB, the union that represents most of the workers at the warehouse.

According to the union, members have received “pressure and threats” from Amazon before the decision to strike was made.

“Thanks to the strike, we have managed to cause significant obstacles to the normal operation of the factory; for example, they are not loading and unloading the trucks, as we get closer to Christmas,” the note said. On Monday, “we stopped the factory and made a demonstration through Trapagaran, to express our disgust and to demand that negotiations be allowed once and for all.”

The center handles parcels for the Basque community in Northern Spain, as well as local areas including Burgos and Cantabria.

An Amazon representative told Sourcing Journal that workers at the warehouse work in a modern and safe environment with competitive salaries and benefits.

“Entry-level employees earn at least 1,900 euros ($2,080) per month with opportunities to grow and build their careers,” the spokesperson said. “On top of that, employees and their families have comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more a year—including private medical and life insurance, subsidized meals, extended paid paternity leave and an employee discount, to name a few.”