Wednesday, October 24, 2007

DHL faces higher labor costs in wake of UPS wage deal

DHL faces higher labor costs in its US operations after peer UPS Inc. concluded above-inflation wage agreements with unions, Financial Times Deutschland reported.

DHL's wage agreement with US transport union Teamsters expires in March 2008. A DHL spokesperson confirmed to the newspaper that negotiations on a new collective deal have started.

DHL has posted unspecified losses in its US operations since it entered the US express market in 2004. It is targeting a profit by the end of 2009.

UPS and the Teamsters agreed wage increases of 4.4 percent on average over the next five years, a deal that will increase UPS' labor costs by up to 2.6 billion annually, the FTD said.

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