Pilots protest DHL’s job cuts

WW photo: Stephen Millies

Members of the Air Lines Pilots Association crashed DHL’s All-Star FanFest baseball show at New York City’s Jacob Javits Convention Center on July 14 and 15. They traveled from Wilmington, Ohio, to protest DHL’s plans to cut 10,000 jobs.

ALPA members distributed a colorful brochure that tells the truth: “DHL is now proposing to give all of its North American air cargo to UPS—one of its biggest competitors. This agreement, if put into effect, will eliminate over 10,000 jobs in Ohio and effectively close down ASTAR [formerly DHL Airways].” The giving away of DHL’s air cargo to UPS also violates anti-trust laws.

This job-cutting scheme was announced just three months after ALPA members at ASTAR signed a new contract with job security commitments. DHL, which owns 49 percent of ASTAR, endorsed these commitments and never mentioned any negotiations with UPS.

The stream of DHL workers driving trucks to a nearby facility eagerly accepted the ALPA brochures. DHL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net, whose revenues exceeded 63 billion euros last year.

Among the supporters who came out to the picket line was Daniel Vila, an organizer with the American Postal Workers Union who’s organizing DHL workers in Allentown, Pa., and Johnnie Stevens from the Katrina Rita Diaspora Solidarity Caravan.

—Stephen Millies
Member, Transportation Communications Union, Local 1402