A spokesman for a DHL shipping contractor said Thursday the company does not plan to let holiday package deliveries be disrupted, even if a Teamsters local follows through with a threat to strike.
"We will do everything we can do to make sure packages are delivered normally," said Sean Howard, president of American Commercial Finance Freight Services.
Plymouth-based American Commercial delivers packages for shipping giant DHL - including those in the Lansing area. Teamsters Local 580, which represents about 60 workers at a Dimondale facility who deliver packages locally, is threatening to strike American Commercial, though no date has been set.
The disagreement stems from the status of a contract union members ratified in October. It includes a pay raise of nearly $5 an hour to about $15 an hour. The union said the contract hasn't been implemented. Howard said he never agreed to the contract.
"They took a contract that was not signed for a vote," he said.
The union says the contract is valid. Mike Parker, business agent for the union, said contracts aren't formally signed until after a ratification vote and a strike was in the planning stages. The union also has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
"These members bar-- -gained fairly with their employer and properly ratified a contract," Parker said. "Our members are extremely upset with the fact that their legal rights can be so blatantly walked on."
The union is urging people to use another shipping company to send and receive holiday gifts.
A spokesman at DHL, which is owned by Germany's Deutsche Post AG and has a U.S. base in Florida, said it has no dealings with the union.
No comments:
Post a Comment