Firings spur `union busting' claim.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

On Dec. 9, four days before they were to begin contract negotiations with their employer, 15 workers who deliver packages for DHL lost their jobs.

But they weren't laid off by DHL, because they didn't work for DHL, at least not directly. Here's where it gets complicated.

The workers - who wore DHL uniforms and drove trucks branded with the DHL logo - worked for Emerald Employment, a Eugene employment agency. Emerald contracted to provide the employees to a Utah-based company called Runia Transport. Runia in turn contracted with DHL to deliver packages in Eugene-Springfield and the surrounding region.

That complex arrangement has made it virtually impossible for employees to organize, and allows DHL to escape responsibility for how the workers are treated, say union organizers and advocates. And the same thing has happened to DHL contract workers in cities across the nation in recent months and years, according to published reports.

"It's called union busting," said Stefan Ostrach, union representative for Teamsters Local 206.

A DHL spokesman, Richard Gibbs, referred questions about the local labor situation to DHL subcontractors. "DHL is not involved in hiring, firing or any of the work force practices of that contractor," he said from DHL's U.S. headquarters in Plantation, Fla.

Katie Ziehr, staffing manager for Emerald Employment, said the employees were laid off after her company lost its account with Runia Transport. She had no other comment.

Mark Runia, owner of Runia Transport, did not return a voice mail seeking comment.

The treatment of the DHL contract workers spurred the first ever public hearing by a citizens group called the Lane County Workers' Rights Board. The board is affiliated with Eugene/Springfield Solidarity Network.

At the Nov. 1 hearing, the board heard from a DHL driver who works in Portland, where workers have a contract negotiated by the Teamsters union. He said he has job security, health insurance for himself and his family, time-and-a-half for overtime, retirement benefits and paid holidays. After 15 years on the job, he earns $21.22 an hour and receives four weeks paid vacation.

A local DHL contract worker, Sam Dillingham, told the board that without a contract, he has no job security, no overtime, no vacation, no paid holidays and no health benefits. After seven years on the job, he's among the highest paid employees at $11.25 per hour.

DHL representatives turned down an invitation to attend the meeting.

The five-member board concluded, "DHL is perpetuating an employment arrangement that allows them to shirk responsibility for paying decent wages and benefits in Eugene. Further, these practices essentially nullify workers' right to form a union and collective bargain with the employer."

Gibbs, the DHL spokesman, said the company inherited the practice of using independent contractors to deliver its packages when it bought Airborne Express in 2003. The company employs about 40 percent of its couriers directly, with the balance of 10,000 to 13,000 couriers employed by independent subcontractors.

After DHL bought Airborne Express in 2003, local workers were employed by an employment agency called Personnel Advantage, which contracted with Runia Transport, which contracted with DHL, according to the workers' rights board. When the local workers tried to organize, Personnel Advantage dissolved, and a new agency, Anytime Labor, was formed with the same managers. The workers stayed on the job without job interviews or hiring procedures, according to the board. Eventually, Anytime Labor became Emerald Employment.

In September, about two dozen workers, who are now represented by the Teamsters, went on strike against Emerald Employment, picketing the DHL facility in an industrial park near the Eugene Airport.

The strike was settled in one day after Emerald agreed to raises ranging from 25 cents to 50 cents an hour, and to not commit further unfair labor practices, Ostrach said. In turn, the union agreed not to strike again before Dec. 21.

Contract negotiations between the Teamsters and Emerald were scheduled for Dec. 13-15, but on Dec. 9, the employees were told that Runia had terminated its contract with Emerald Employment.

Ostrach said the Teamsters may file complaints against Emerald, but he wasn't optimistic.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled earlier that the only employer that counts is the one that signs the checks, he said.

The Teamsters hope to bring enough pressure on DHL to persuade the company to end its practice of using subcontractors to deliver packages, he said. And they'll keep trying to organize the workers, he said.

"We're not going away," he said.