Teamsters to DHL: Executive Pay Fails Workers, Reject it

(BONN, Germany) — The Teamsters Union will present a countermotion urging investors to reject DHL Group’s executive remuneration report at the company’s Annual General Meeting in Bonn, Germany, on Friday, May 3.

While purportedly tying executives’ annual bonuses to DHL’s employment practices, the board’s “employee engagement” metric is flawed and lacks critical disclosure. As a result, senior executives reap lucrative bonuses every year despite DHL’s worsening labor practices in the US. Over the past two years, workers have been fighting back by organizing with the Teamsters at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), DHL’s global hub in North America.

“In the US, DHL has become a notoriously anti-union company known for poor working conditions and violating workers’ rights. Supervisors at CVG have referred to workers as ‘inmates’ and treat them as if DHL was running a prison,” said Bill Hamilton, Director of the Teamsters Express Division and Teamsters Eastern Region International Vice President. “DHL workers are operating in a culture of intimidation, fear, and constant disrespect. It is outrageous that DHL executives are being awarded massive bonuses when the company needs to be taking care of the people who make it so rich.”

CVG sort package handlers currently organizing with the Teamsters have no guaranteed breaks and little to no notice of schedule changes. They are regularly required to work grueling hours without breaks, in violation of state and federal law. Some CVG workers have resorted to wearing diapers while sorting packages.

Ramp and tug workers at CVG represented by the Teamsters faced equally abysmal conditions prior to joining the union. In 2023, a Black worker was pulled off his forklift and physically assaulted by a white supervisor. The supervisor still works for DHL despite the violent incident.

DHL was forced last week to settle an $8.7 million racial discrimination lawsuit with members of Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago.

“At the most basic level, DHL’s actions at CVG violate the company’s own code of conduct. The way workers are treated at CVG is strikingly at odds with DHL’s goal of being the ‘employer of choice,’” Hamilton said. “The company’s weak employee engagement surveys do not reflect the reality on the ground — which is a dangerous, inequitable environment for workers fueled by global corporate greed.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.

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