DHL contractor pilots sign off on a strike

As expected, United States-based contract pilots flying for DHL elected to move forward with a strike this week.

Earlier this month, LM reported that nearly 2,000 pilots working at four of DHL’s five North American network carriers - Atlas Air, Southern Air, Polar Air, ABX - are voting this week to authorize the union to call a strike, if necessary, and pilots at a fifth DHL carrier – Kalitta Air - had already voted overwhelmingly authorizing the union to a strike at that time.

The pilots are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and its airline affiliate, Teamsters Local 1224, and have been stalled in contract negotiations with airlines, in some cases for years. The four new strike votes opened in mid-April and the strike authorization at Kalitta was approved by 97 percent in December 2015.

The five airlines play a major role in linking DHL’s highly profitable North American express service to the rest of the world, and make up an estimated 70 percent of DHL’s total annual freight ton miles.

This strike authorization coincides with DHL’s annual shareholders meeting being held by its parent company DHL Deutsche Post today.   The vote to strike was close to unanimous, with 93 percent of the five-company pilot groups participating in the strike vote and 99 percent of those pilots voted in favor of a strike.  Pilots at the five U.S. cargo carriers voted online through anonymous balloting in April and May.

“This is truly an unprecedented situation where pilots across five different companies are standing up together to send a message that we refuse to be treated below industry standards,” said Captain Mike Griffith, an Atlas pilot, in a statement. “By calling this strike vote, we are telling our respective companies – and DHL – that they need to listen to the pilots who keep them flying and help build their millions in profits.”

Despite rising profits for DHL, the striking pilots maintain carriers are trying to force pilots into sub-standard contracts that would have a devastating impact by suppressing wages and lowering quality of life issues for pilots at these carriers and throughout the industry.

“We are aware of the on-going contract negotiations between Teamsters Local 1224 and these respective airlines as well as the union’s strike vote report from May 17,” a DHL spokesman told LM. “These are negotiations between our airline partners and their unions. We can confirm that DHL does not currently anticipate any impact on our operations from these on-going discussions.”‎

A Bloomberg report noted that this strike authorization needs to go through formal regulatory process and could potentially be delayed.

The report added that DHL contract pilots are upset at the disparity between their wages and the pay at bigger shippers UPS and FedEx Corp., a disagreement over work rules and a lack of job security, according to Teamsters Local 1224 President Daniel Wells.

Jerry Hempstead, president of Hempstead Consulting, made it clear that just because these contracted pilots voted to authorize a strike it is not a done deal it will happen.

“DHL does not employ these pilots, and the pilots just cannot strike,” he said. “If they strike, then all the business will go to UPS and FedEx and then they [voted] themselves out of a job because DHL is not better than FedEx and UPS when it comes to service. UPS and FedEx will not let the shippers have a reason to go back to DHL after the strike is over, so these guys need to be real careful how they play this. It’s hard for shippers to have sympathy for a guy that makes $180,000 a year and wants $200,000.”