DHL recognises union

In a breakthrough for the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), in September 2004 DHL Express accorded it full recognition for the courier company's 1,000-strong workforce in Ireland.

DHL Express (Ireland) - part of the German-based Deutsche Post group - has almost 1,000 staff and was recently formed through the merger of the former DHL operation with two other courier firms, Omega Express and Danzas. Omega Express, which had approximately 500 staff, was unionised, while the other two firms were not. In late September 2004, DHL Express granted recognition to the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), Ireland's largest trade union. The recognition agreement is the result of months of discussions and workshops between the company and the union. It sets out 'best practice' grievance and disciplinary procedures, and also emphasises the importance of the 'partnership' approach throughout. These partnership principles are underlined in Sustaining Progress (IE0301209F and IE0304201N), Ireland’s current national-level agreement between the social partners.

The DHL Express agreement emphasises a link between business performance and improvements in general for employees, including areas such as pay and conditions of employment. A section on the company’s philosophy stresses this link between performance and reward: 'the concept of team working and mutual respect supported by the provision of satisfying and motivating compensation/reward packages for employees'.

SIPTU has sole negotiation rights at the company, but while full recognition is available through SIPTU, membership of the union is voluntary for all staff. This means that if former DHL and Danzas staff are to join SIPTU, then recruitment work will have to be undertaken by the union. According to the weekly Dublin-based magazine, Industrial Relations News (IRN), 'this will be against a positive background in terms of the union’s relationship with the company'.

Flexibility and a constructive approach to the needs of the business are also part of the agreement, which says that 'mutual benefits and job security will be derived through a climate of continuous improvement and the acceptance of new methodologies and technology in the competitive environment in which the business operates'. The agreement also provides for the establishment of a union national negotiating committee, which will deal with senior company management on areas such as general terms and conditions of employment. Each of the company’s locations is to have one employee representative on the committee, while those with 51 union members or over are to have two and those with 100 or more union members will have three.

An innovative absence policy - described as the 'return to work' (RTW) process - is included in the agreement. All absent employees are to attend a 'return to work' meeting with their supervisor on the first day they return. This discussion and all subsequent absences are to be recorded, along with detailed reasons for the absence and the number of days absent.