Union letter to Dhl express india country Manager. July 20, 2014 Mr. R.S. Subramanian DHL Express (India) Pvt. Ltd. HDIL Towers, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051 Dear Mr. Subramanian, I am addressing this letter to you directly. There is a reason for my doing this. I am associated with DHL Employees even before the union formation. You have been with DHL for a decade. In DHL Mumbai, we represent courier category employees since 1999. We entered into a settlement in November 2002. After 2002 November settlement between the management and the union interactions between workers and the management became few and far between and subsequently relationship turned sour resulting in an unsavoury period of about six years dealing with conflicts upon conflicts, compelling both sides to spend time and energy to sort out problems including a plethora of litigation. Even a simple issue like Protected Workmen status to union office bearers was to be taken upto the Hon’ble Bombay High Court for a decision in our favour. This unfriendly situation took an about turn during 2009-2010 towards opening fresh dialogue between us and happily we emerged out of a cesspool of litigations and started moving towards normalcy in industrial relations though many substantial issues remained unresolved. In 2014 we are more enlightened about the role of unions and corporations, particularly multinational companies operating in India. DHL in India has agreed to respect Indian laws regarding labour. DHL has agreed to adhere to OECD guidelines and ILO conventions. Global Code of Conduct issued by DHL contains a provision that employees have right to form or join trade unions of their choice. DHL employees working at the bottom level or category in the company are couriers; they do pick up and delivery, bagging etc. in the service centres and gateways. This is the core activity of DHL. Couriers are the face of DHL before its esteemed customers; they work in shifts in the field and in the offices. Their jobs can be compared with the jobs of postmen in India. In the course of our wage award case before the Industrial Tribunal, Mumbai, we had taken up sixth pay commission wages for postmen while making comparison of jobs being executed by postmen and DHL workers. It is an undeniable fact that postmen in India are workmen having trade union rights and right to collective bargaining. Prior to formation of DHL as a separate company in India most of the workmen were Airfreight employees. In Airfreight (when DHL was its division) there was only “S” grade throughout India for courier category. After DHL formation Chennai continued to retain couriers in “S” grade, Mumbai courier category came under “R” grade. There was no Hay grade courier in those days. In Delhi and Kolkata some of the present Hay grade employees were in “S” grade before their conversion. After DHL formed a separate company, those workers recruited for shipment distribution/collection to and from customers and connected activity were placed in Hay grade. Thus, in Delhi, Kolkata as well as in many other cities and towns courier category employees today are predominantly in Hay grade. DHL couriers are now in “S”, “R” and Hay grades. There is no difference in their functions; they work together in shifts. Till 2013 Hay grade employees were few in number in Mumbai. Mumbai based Hay grade couriers have been members of the union for many years. Hay grade population in Mumbai went up in 2013 after the so called couriers hired through Adecco were made permanent in service. You are aware we were always opposing, and we still continue to oppose, the sham and bogus contract labour system that prevailed in DHL as the so called contract workers in fact and in reality were doing DHL work day in and day out and therefore they were DHL workers. Our opposition emanated from a demand to provide quality jobs to workers in DHL besides extending social security to them. Indian labour laws do not allow contract labour for jobs of permanent and perennial nature. Initial reaction of the management to our demand was harsh and hostile. In respect of one group of 30 contract workers our union had to approach the labour machinery in 2007 and the matter is now pending in the court. While the case filed by our union pertaining to contract labour system in Mumbai was pending for adjudication in the Industrial Court, there was a welcome change in company’s policy on contract labour employment. In April 2013 DHL decided to absorb over 330 such workers in regular service . We appreciated in writing DHL management’s decision to do away its practice of employing contract labour for regular work. Upon absorption in regular category in 2013 the contract workers of yester years, who were subjected to indescribable indignities when they were under the so called contractor, Addeco, have now been placed in Hay grade directly without giving them any chance to opt for “S” or “R” grade. The grandstanding of promotional Hay grade has no relevance here at all. Needless to say, abolition of contract labour necessarily leads to the next logical step of regularisation of jobs in DHL in permanent category and the law provides for such employees to get equal pay for equal work as they perform same and similar work like regular staff. The management is now claiming that the erstwhile Adecco workers are also in managerial category ! They have been offered a pay package which is inferior to the pay structure available to regular workers. As you are aware, this is against the Contract Labour Act provisions. Going by the present management theory 170 odd “R” grade couriers of 15/20 years of service in Mumbai, who are paid slightly higher wages, are “workmen” whereas the erstwhile Adecco contract workers who were made permanent last year are “management” staff. “R” grade couriers are inferior and newly appointed Hay grade couriers of 2013 batch are superior ! In Mumbai, as in other cities, it remains a puzzle that if those doing pick up and delivery, bagging so on and so forth are in the managerial cadre who then are in the worker category in DHL. If any credence is given to such claims of the management then DHL would emerge as a company without workers in many cities. In our interactions with Sunjoy Dhaawan, we had assured that we would cooperate with the management in finding an acceptable wage level for the Hay grade workers. This possibility exists only through discussions. Hence, we want collective bargaining right guaranteed under DHL code of conduct. In 2012-2014 period Hay grade couriers working in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur and Pune have chosen to join DHL Employees Union. Hay grade couriers in Mumbai have been members of our union for long. Joining a union of employees’ choice is not a crime or misconduct under Indian laws or DHL global policy. Hay grade couriers doing pick up and delivery are not doing any managerial functions. They are the only ones in workers category at Delhi, Kolkata. Jaipur, Pune etc. functionally as well as wage wise. These workers draw minimum wages in DHL, they live in shanty towns, travel long distances and many hours to reach work place, they have a hand to mouth existence. Branding such employees managerial personnel is an insult over injury to them. As mentioned above we have been functioning as a union for over a decade. Our union constitution will bear testimony to the fact that we have not formed a union exclusively for “R” grade; our constitution is open to all workers, all lower category employees in DHL. We do not enrol managerial personnel as members of our union. Trade Union Act does not recognise grades as an eligibility factor or criterion for employees to join a union. TU Act prohibits discrimination. Our union is not a union for “R” grade employees. Hence, we have enrolled Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur and Pune employees as members of our union. The law of the land allows this. Refusal of DHL management to recognise the right of Delhi/Kolkata etc. workers to join a union of their choice and their right to collective bargaining would tantamount to clear violation of the law. It will be seen as an act on the part of the management to stonewall unionisation in Delhi/Kolkata and couriers outside Mumbai. Conversely, DHL management’s stand would tantamount to abandonment of its own global code of conduct. The union enrolment issue had assumed a huge degree of controversy between our union and the management a few months ago. However, responding to our strong opposition to company’s stand, we received letters from the management reversing its policy stating categorically that DHL management accepts Delhi/Kolkata etc. employees’ right to form/join trade union of their choice. Management also claimed they did not follow discrimination policy and asserted that equal pay for equal work is its sheet anchor. But the management felt workers have no bargaining right. We did not agree with the stand of the management that a trade union should forgo collective bargaining rights. This stand is again contrary to DHL’s own global code, OECD guidelines and ILO conventions. Employees in Delhi/Kolkata etc. have grievances. We have placed before DHL management in Mumbai collective issues/collective grievances of Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur and Pune employees for resolution through negotiations, through collective bargaining. The demands placed by us are pending since April 2013. There has been no dialogue between the management and workers at local level, nor has any meeting been held at central level to resolve the issues. We have expressed our willingness to settle issues taking into account all business parameters. In the meantime another interesting development took place on July 10, 2014. On July 10 there took place a union-management meeting in Mumbai. We were given the impression that this meeting was meant to discuss certain aspects of the pending wage award case in the Hon’ble Bombay High Court. We gathered this impression because originally a meeting was scheduled for July 7 in continuation of the earlier discussion for a Mumbai charter settlement. July 7 meeting was to be held between two sub committees set up by us jointly to discuss certain aspects of the pending award implementation by way of an out of court settlement. This committee was the outcome of an open announcement made by Sunjoy Dhaawan two months ago that he would sign a settlement in 24 hours ! Few hours before July 7 we were informed that Sunjoy Dhaawan wanted to meet me and Aabess Khan prior to the sub committee meeting. We agreed to meet Sunjoy Dhaawan on July 10. In the meeting that took place on July 10 union was represented by Aabess Khan, our General Secretary, besides me. When we reached the venue of the meeting, to our surprise, we found Mr. Jeremy Caird from DHL Hong Kong along with Mr. Sunjoy Dhaawan and Anil Khot. We were not told in advance about Jeremy Caird’s likely presence and the real objective of the meeting. Strangely, in the July 10 meeting once again we found an attempt being made by the management to depict Delhi, Kolkata etc. delivery boys as managerial personnel. Management representatives could not reveal who then are DHL workers in Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur and Pune if the Hay grade couriers there are in management cadre. Is DHL a company without workers ? Moreover, we found during July 10 meeting an attempt being made to wriggle out of Sunjoy Dhaawan’s own commitment to settle COD of Mumbai pending in the High Court. No date was fixed for even the sub-committee to meet after July 10. We found on July 10 that Jeremy Caird was not convinced with the stand of Sunjoy Dhaawan on the question of trade union as well as collective bargaining rights. Jeremy repeatedly asserted that DHL would adhere to global commitments to trade union rights of employees and he would uphold DHL Code of Conduct and provisions therein in respect of workers rights. We trust you would ensure DHL code of conduct is not violated. We believe that you would prefer to settle disputes between employer and employees through dialogue. Our past experience would reveal that intimidation and repressive measures like suspensions would not enhance business interests in the long run. Creating conducive atmosphere would be beneficial. Employees in Delhi and Pune are suspended ostensibly on allegations of misconduct but in reality to check union gaining strength. Some positive steps from your end would avoid dragging us back to 2004 period. One of the Senior DHL Managers is already on record when he told Delhi employees on December 27, 2013 that DHL would not hesitate resorting to anti-worker measures of 2003-2004 period to teach employees a lesson if they continue to remain loyal to the trade union of their choice. We hope you would agree to negotiate the demands pending on behalf of Delhi/Kolkata/Jaipur and Pune.We firmly believe that a cooperative approach would be in the best interest of the company and workers. That is the spirit behind writing this letter to you. May we urge you to meet our committee at the earliest to have a free and frank discussion on the entire gamut of issues so that we would remain on the same page. Sorry to bother you with a slightly long letter. Thanks and with kind regards Yours truly N. Vasudevan President
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 08:12:39 +0000
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