Delivery company DHL is accused of using replacement workers while employees are on strike.Jens Meyer/The Associated Press
Unifor, the union representing thousands of striking DHL Express Canada workers, is alleging that the delivery giant is violating a new federal law that bans the use of replacement workers during strikes.
In a complaint filed to the Canada Industrial Relations Board on June 23, Unifor alleges that DHL has been bussing in replacement workers and continuing to use third-party contractors for deliveries in order to keep operations running.
Bill C-58 is a new federal law that prohibits the use of replacement workers during lockouts and strikes in federally regulated industries. It was passed at the end of 2023 after years-long advocacy by the New Democratic Party and major unions – including Unifor – and was seen as a significant victory for the labour movement. The law took effect on June 20 this year.
That same day, DHL announced it was suspending operations across Canada because it was unable to use replacement workers to keep operations running as DHL workers across the country were on strike. The delivery company had been using replacement workers since it locked out its employees on June 8.
In an e-mailed statement to The Globe and Mail last Friday, DHL said it would remain “compliant with every applicable legislation in Canada, including Bill C-58.”
Canada must not accept any trade deal that includes auto tariffs, head of Unifor says
But striking DHL workers at a sorting facility near Hamilton airport told Unifor that they saw hundreds of temporary workers being brought in by bus to work at that facility as recently as Monday. In its complaint to the CIRB, Unifor submitted photo evidence of these replacement workers, as well as online package tracking data that pointed toward the use of third-party delivery contractors.
Specifically, Unifor is alleging that DHL used replacement workers from June 20 to 22 at three DHL facilities in Brampton, Scarborough and Hamilton, and used third-party contractors to perform local deliveries in parts of the Greater Toronto Area and Vancouver.
The German-based shipping company did not respond to several requests from The Globe about Unifor’s complaint to the CIRB.
Approximately 2,100 DHL workers across Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec have been on strike since June 8, after being locked out by DHL amid tense negotiations for a new collective agreement.
At the heart of the dispute between Unifor and DHL is how delivery truck drivers get paid. The union says DHL is pushing for a change to the driver wage system that would result in less money for drivers and them having to drive up to 100 km to pick up freight with no compensation.
Wages are also at the centre of the dispute between both sides. DHL offered workers a 15-per-cent raise spread over four years, but the union wants a 15-per-cent raise spread over three years.
DHL said it had stopped accepting international parcels headed to Canada from customers on June 17 in anticipation of the new federal law taking effect. It had sought intervention from Ottawa earlier this month, sending a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu that argued the prohibition on replacement workers would significantly disrupt small businesses and customers dependent on key products, especially medical and pharmaceutical goods.
Ottawa chose not to intervene in the dispute, with Ms. Hajdu telling both Unifor and DHL that they had to find a way to come to an agreement at the bargaining table.
Some of DHL’s largest customers include Shein, Temu and Lululemon. The company is one of five major parcel delivery operators in Canada, alongside FedEx, Canada Post, UPS and TFI International Inc. According to Unifor, DHL workers make up roughly 15 per cent of all courier workers in the country.
Why Canada Post talks have stalled after months of negotiations with unionized workers
“DHL chose to bring in scabs instead of bargaining, chose to lock out its workers, and when it failed to get permission to continue using replacement workers, it decided it operates above the law – it does not,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne in a statement on Tuesday. “This is a direct challenge to newly established worker protections, and it cannot go unanswered.”
Mark Rowlinson, a partner at the Toronto labour and employment law firm Goldblatt Partners LLP, said that the labour board is not required to have a hearing when dealing with complaints of this nature, and can make a decision based on the written submissions and evidence from both parties.
The penalty for violating Bill C-58 is $100,000 a day.
David Doorey, a professor of labour law at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said that businesses sometimes weigh the potential cost of penalties against the economic benefit from continuing to operate illegally.