January 3, 2008: DHL bargaining is moving on to wages and is expected to wrap up soon. Disastrous concessions have already been agreed to in the tentative deal, so members need to prepare now to defeat these givebacks.

Officers involved in the negotiations report that the proposed tentative deal will include the greatly increased use of part-timers on docks and for air pick-ups. It will contain language to red circle existing full-time Teamsters, by name, and offer them protection for 40 hours work.

A red circle is more like a red noose. Under this arrangement, as Teamsters leave, DHL could utilize more and more part-timers. This would destroy good Teamster jobs and also eliminate the overtime that many Teamsters rely on. And it will tighten that noose.

The company may try to buy some votes with a slightly larger wage increase. Even if they do, DHL Teamsters will still be over $6 behind UPS drivers. And no wage boost is worth giving away the future in massive concessions.

This Deal Can Be Stopped

This deal can be stopped, and very likely will, if we start now to organize to Vote No on the national agreement and the so-called Pick Up and Delivery Supplement—where the dirty concessions will be located.

We stopped this deal once, last summer, and we can kill it for good this time. The bigger the No vote, the more change we’ll win.

We have to wait until we see it in writing, but Teamsters should prepare now. Talk to your fellow Teamsters. Don’t let anyone tell you “it’s a done deal” because it is not, unless we vote for it. We should study the deal, inform our fellow Teamsters, and determine our own future as Teamsters.

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