Union workers at DHL’s air hub facility in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) are on strike, the Teamsters confirmed to CityBeat.
As of 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1,100 workers at DHL-CVG, the company’s largest express air hub, are withholding their labor at the Hebron, Kentucky facility.
“For too long, DHL has walked all over our rights to collective action,” Gina Kemp, a DHL-CVG ramp and tug worker, said in a media release. “We were forced to go on strike to put an end to DHL’s illegal anti-union behavior. This company’s repeated acts of disrespect — from the tarmac where we work to the bargaining table — leave me and my co-workers with no choice but to withhold our labor.”
The Teamsters, the union representing DHL-CVG workers, voted to authorize the strike on Dec. 3, saying DHL was dragging its feet at the bargaining table.
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DHL-CVG is the company’s largest logistics hub in North America. Employees voted to join the Teamsters union in April, representing the air hub’s 1,100 ramp and tug workers. Organizing leaders told CityBeat that ramp associates are paid as low as $20 per hour to have life-threatening jobs at the delivery airport. Workers load and unload nearly 400,000 pounds of cargo per day using equipment they described as dangerous and outdated. There were at least 22 emergency workplace injuries at DHL-CVG last year, including broken, crushed and dislocated limbs, according to Kenton County Airport Board records.
DHL spokesperson Daniel McGrath told CityBeat the strike is meant to pressure the company into “unreasonable” contract terms.
“Unfortunately, the Teamsters have decided to try and influence these negotiations and pressure the company to agree to unreasonable contract terms by taking a job action in CVG Thursday morning,” McGrath said.
McGrath said the company “remains committed” to reaching a deal with the union, but that contingency plans, including supplemental staff, were prepared ahead of the strike.
“DHL Express was fully prepared for this anticipated tactic and has enacted contingency plans, which include replacement staff at CVG Hub and removing flights and volume away from CVG to other key strategic DHL locations throughout the Americas Region,” McGrath said.
McGrath told CityBeat that DHL expects striking workers will receive “sympathy support” at various pickup and delivery locations across the country.
“We are prepared for these additional sympathy actions with replacement staff to ensure we maintain full-service capabilities for our customers,” McGrath said.
The strike comes as many Americans order and ship packages for the holiday season, millions of which pass through the DHL-CVG, as well as the Amazon air hub, which is on its own labor organizing path.
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This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 12, 2023.