Union election at DHL postponed

A union election set for today for nearly 470 DHL employees in Wilmington was postponed Wednesday by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The election was postponed pending an NLRB investigation of an unfair labor practice complaint filed last Friday by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) against DHL Express.

The NLRB is a government agency that oversees union elections.

According to Assistant NLRB Regional Director Laura Atkinson, the order to postpone the election stems from Regional Director Gary Muffley's assessment that if the probe does find merit to the complaint, then potentially the employees' right to a fair and free election has been diminished, an outcome that would warrant postponement.


In other words, the union election was postponed because the unfair labor practice allegations, if true, would mean DHL has engaged in conduct that could impact its employees' free choice to form a labor organization at the place they work.

The ballot that had been prepared for today asked eligible DHL employees whether they wanted to be organized for collective bargaining by the APWU, by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, or neither union.