DHL Express employees will strike again on Monday, the unions FNV and CNV have announced. Staff at several sites in the southern Netherlands — including Breda, Rotterdam and Eindhoven — will stop work for the entire day. They want a new collective labour agreement.
DHL Express handles urgent document shipments and parcel deliveries for businesses. The company employs around 2,000 people. The unions warn that consumers may also face delays. Some orders handled by other companies could arrive later if those firms receive their shipments from DHL Express later than planned.
The company says services in the southern region will be “not optimal” during the strike. Deliveries from Dutch webshops using DHL eCommerce will continue as normal. That division is not part of the industrial action.
Workers also went on strike last week. The unions say the company’s wage offer — a 3.25 per cent rise from 1 July and another 3 per cent next year — is too low. They note that employees in other DHL divisions are receiving higher increases. They also claim DHL Express wants to cut benefits, including overtime pay and sick pay.
Last week, DHL Express said it had made “a good and constructive proposal,” both in absolute terms and compared with other collective labour agreements. The company urged unions to resume talks. “DHL says they want to talk, but at the same time they indicate that they will not meet our demands,” said FNV board member Jacqueline Lohle. “In that case, negotiations make little sense. If necessary, we will continue with industrial action.”
DHL Express says it regrets the strike. A spokesperson said the latest proposal “meets the demands almost entirely” and that an agreement could be reached quickly if talks resume.
@anp | News Brainport
