“DHL is clearly punishing us for daring to stand up for our constitutional rights, the right to organize and collectively bargain.”

CABUYAO CITY, Laguna — Ten days into their strike, 473 warehouse workers of logistics giant DHL Supply Chain remain defiant as the management tries to dismantle the labor union through workplace closure.

Members of the DHL United Workers Union (DUWU) have been fighting the company’s plan to shut down its Sucat warehouse in Muntinlupa and terminate their employment under a supposed redundancy program.

For the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), however, the closure is more than a business decision. The labor rights group condemned DHL’s move, stressing that the company is using the alleged end of its contract with Robinsons Supermarket as a pretext to evade collective bargaining with the workers’ newly certified bargaining representative.

“We are very alarmed that DHL declared a sudden shutdown to evade bargaining with its newly certified workers’ union,” CTUHR Executive Director Kamz Deligente said. “The threats of redundancy and refusal to negotiate are unacceptable.”

Closure after union victory

The workers’ dispute escalated on July 21 during their first conciliation conference before the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

Instead of beginning negotiations, management handed workers letters informing them of their impending redundancy. The notices reportedly contained pre-computed separation packages and warned the 473 employees that they would be terminated by August 31. The timing, workers said, was difficult to ignore.

The warehouse closure was announced only days after DUWU won its certification election and was recognized as the workers’ sole and exclusive bargaining representative. For the union, the sequence of events points to a familiar tactic of waiting for workers to organize and then closing the workplace.

DUWU President Napoleon Aromin who led the workers’ organizing campaign is now leading their fight against the impending mass termination.

The union disputed DHL’s claim that its contract with Robinsons Supermarket expired. Workers said that DHL previously announced during a town hall meeting that it secured a three-year contract with Robinsons Supermarket before the end of 2025. But management has continued to refuse to provide workers proof that the contract has ended.

The union demanded an assurance that affected workers will have the right of first refusal if DHL resumes operations at the Sucat warehouse or transfers the same operations elsewhere. DHL has not made such a commitment. 

Runaway shop

On the 10th day of their strike, DHL workers brought their protest to the company’s Sta. Rosa warehouse in Laguna. They said that the facility is increasingly being used as a runaway shop or a workplace where operations are transferred or maintained elsewhere to escape unionism.

The workers stressed that moving operations elsewhere while eliminating the jobs of unionized workers allows the company to continue its business without the union. 

Deligente said that employers have long used supposed closures, contract expirations and redundancy programs as ways to weaken or eliminate unions. “The practice of suddenly claiming that a facility is closing or that contracts have expired whenever workers form a union is an old union-busting tactic that must end.”

The union said that the workers have dealt with persistent wage distortion since 2018 and have sought collective bargaining to address their concerns. Instead of sitting across the negotiating table, workers are now facing termination.

No choice but to strike

For Aromin, the strike is a continuation of the workers’ struggle to exercise rights supposedly guaranteed by law.

“DHL is clearly punishing us for daring to stand up for our constitutional rights, the right to organize and collectively bargain,” Aromin said. “This leaves us with no choice but to exercise another constitutional right, the right to strike.”

CTUHR said that DHL is a signatory to a Global Framework Agreement with the International Transport Workers Federation and Union Network International(UNI) Global Union. Under the agreement, DHL commits to respecting freedom of association, collective bargaining and constructive labor relations across its global operations.

“DHL’s local management is violating workers’ right to organize and their right to security of tenure guaranteed under the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Labor Code,” Deligente said.

The group called on the Marcos, Jr. administration and Labor and Employment Secretary Francis Tolentino to intervene in the dispute and uphold the workers’ rights. (RTS, DAA)