Unions are talking worldwide organizing strategies targeted to the four largest package delivery and logistics companies in the world – United Parcel Service (UPS), DHL, FedEx and TNT Logistics.
Representatives from global labor groups attending the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) meeting in Washington D.C. this week are now discussing ways worldwide unions can work together to organize the Big Four express carriers, commonly referred to as “integrators,” said Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa.
“In this global economy, labor unions must see, think and plan beyond borders if we are to help gain strength and power for workers,” he explained. Hoffa noted the Teamsters have now created a new office of global strategies to focus resources on building alliances with workers around the world.
The meeting included union leaders from Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, India, China, South Africa, Canada, Belgium and Spain, Hoffa said, adding that the ITF represents 624 transport unions with 4.5 million transport workers from 142 countries.
“Our members from these international unions are linked by the actions of corporations whose global executives make decisions that affect workers around the world,” said C. Thomas Keegel, general secretary and treasurer for the Teamsters. “These multinational corporations have a global strategy. We must build a global strategy as well.”
