November 14, 2008: The worsening recession has claimed more victims, as the European transport giant DHL announced Nov. 10 that they are ending all domestic U.S. ground and air shipping. After January DHL will only pick up and deliver international shipments.

An estimated 80 percent of DHL Teamsters will lose their jobs. Many terminals already have 50 percent laid off. Hopefully UPS will pick up most of the DHL freight, rather than nonunion FedEx. But UPS has no obligation to hire the displaced DHL Teamsters.

The International Union is expected to meet with management in mid-November over the massive shutdown. The International Union gave DHL low-wage part-timers in the 2008 contract to help the company become profitable.

The pull-out from the U.S. domestic market is devastating to the Wilmington, Ohio, area, where DHL employs 7,000 people at its U.S. hub. That hub was built in 2005 with the help of $400 million in state and local incentives.