Logistics is a rapidly growing and highly profitable sector. On the other hand, working conditions deteriorate; turnover is high, unionization remains low, and price competition driven by the expansion of e-commerce leads employers to cut labor costs and increase workload intensity. One major trend shaping the sector is the “verticalization” of supply chains. A handful of large logistics companies increasingly dominate the market by acquiring companies in their supply chains. At the same time, subcontracting becomes more widespread and often exacerbates substandard wages and working conditions.
Negative impact of new technologies, precarious employment models, and occupational health and safety issues are common and faced by most logistics’ workers. Self-employed workers often lack access to union representation, and logistics workers in isolated roles, such as couriers, face even greater vulnerability.
Within the context of dangerous and reckless deregulation pushed by the European Commission, multinationals will be increasingly able to circumvent due diligence rules all around the world; seeking profit maximization at the expense of workers’ rights. In periphery countries like Turkey; this opens the door to union busting, low wages, and substandard working conditions.
In this landscape, ETF affiliate TÜMTİS’ recent victory at DHL Express gains particular importance: No matter what the picture is, the only way forward is unionizing and building the collective power of workers.
We interviewed the President of TUMTIS, Kenan Ozturk about their recent success at DHL Express Turkey and the dynamics of the logistics sector in Turkey.
Can you tell us about the key achievements of the new collective bargaining agreement at DHL Express in Türkiye? What improvements will make the most impact on workers’ lives?
First of all, I would like to start by thanking the ITF and ETF for their support throughout this process.
We had previously signed a CBA at DHL Express in 2019. However, due to Turkey’s anti-democratic laws, we were unable to obtain the authorization for a second term and sign the new CBA. The biggest achievement of this process is that, after four years of struggle since 2021, we have succeeded in organizing again at DHL Express. Our union, TÜMTİS, is the largest union organizing in the logistics sector in Turkey. We are organized in multinational logistics companies such as UPS, Aras Kargo (Austrian Post), Aramex, ZetFarma, and Kuehne+Nagel. We have signed the 6th term CBA at DHL Supply Chain, and organizing in these workplaces has never been easy. However, our inability to sign a new agreement at DHL Express was putting us in a difficult position in other companies as well.
One of the most significant obstacles we had to overcome was the employer’s insistence that the benefits of the CBA should be applied to all employees, regardless of their union membership status. We strongly opposed this and, in the end, this provision was included in the CBA in accordance with legal regulations and as per our demands.
As for the financial gains achieved with the signed CBA: Starting in January, there will be a net 30% wage increase, followed by an additional 14.38% increase in April. In the second year, wages will be adjusted based on the annual inflation rate. We increased the number of half-yearly bonuses from 4 to 6 with this CBA, which we had initially secured in our first collective agreement. Overtime pay will be increased by 70% in the first year and 75% in the second year, while work on weekly rest days will be paid at double the regular wage. There have also been significant improvements in meal allowances, national holiday and general holiday pay, and other social benefits.
Finally, before signing the agreement, we held meetings at all our branches where DHL Express employees are union members to share the final status of negotiations. I would like to emphasize that more than 80% of our members approved the agreement before it was signed.
And what were the biggest challenges the union encountered during negotiations? How did you and your fellow union members navigate those obstacles?
The biggest challenge we faced was DHL management’s insistence on applying the benefits of the CBA to all workers under the slogan of “equal pay for equal work,” regardless of union membership. While this principle may be reasonable in some cases at a global level, in Turkey, it contradicts national laws, the Law on Unionization, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement Law. More importantly, it is a direct attack on unions. According to the law, only union members and those who pay the solidarity contribution fee can benefit from a CBA.
If DHL’s proposal had been implemented, it would have resulted in a situation where union members paid dues and benefited from the agreement, while non-unionized workers also benefited without paying dues, effectively earning higher wages than union members. This would have meant creating a system where union members earned less, effectively pressuring them to resign. This issue was so critical that if such a practice had been allowed, it would have set a precedent that could have destroyed unionization across Turkey, not just at DHL Express.
For this reason, our national confederation, TÜRK-İŞ, closely followed the process. The president of TÜRK-İŞ, Ergun Atalay, personally wrote official letters supporting us and sent them to the relevant parties. However, our two most crucial sources of support were, as you might expect, our members and ITF. For our members, this was a red line, and they stood firm on this issue. They remained union members despite the company’s attempts to persuade them otherwise, making it clear to the employer that this provision was non-negotiable.
ITF has supported us through the OECD Protocol with the DHL Group, facilitating dialogue with DHL management, and dedicating time and effort to help us overcome this challenge.
Ultimately, DHL backed down on this issue, allowing the agreement to be signed.
Apart from this, topics such as the scope of the agreement and wage increases were also major discussion points. However, after DHL took a step back on the entitlement issue, the majority of our members approved the agreement, and we were able to sign the CBA.
With this victory secured, what are the union’s next priorities? Are there any long-term changes you hope to achieve for DHL workers or the logistics sector as a whole?
If we look back 15 years, we can see that the biggest problem in the road transport and logistics sector was its complete lack of unionization. In Turkey, except for storage warehouses, there was not a single unionized workplace. Wages were at minimum wage levels, and workers were employed in a completely lawless and exploitative environment.
At our 2008 congress, we decided to shift the union’s focus to the logistics sector. In the past, workers were unable to receive overtime pay and worked for minimum wage with zero social benefits. Now, in workplaces where we are organized, our members earn significantly above the minimum wage and enjoy various social benefits and bonuses.
However, since logistics is not a production-based sector, the gains we can achieve in individual workplaces are somewhat limited. This is why TÜMTİS is committed to organizing untilthere is not even a single non-unionised workplace left. Only in this way can we establish common standards across the entire sector. This is our primary goal at TÜMTİS.
At the same time, we also have a serious issue that is common across the world; precarious employment models including self-employment. This is our biggest challenge, and we believe that it can only be tackled by unionization.
Right now, the top priority for all units of our union is organizing workers at MNG Kargo, which is a company acquired by DHL last year and employing around 8,000 workers. We are organizing in all provinces of Turkey. With this potential victory, we will be representative of a significant portion of the logistics sector, and Through our influence, even non-unionized companies will have to adapt and implement higher standards. Since 2008, our goal has been to reach this point, and today we are closer than ever to achieving it.