(Hundreds have already signed our paper copy of this petition. Now add your name!)

We, the undersigned ramp and tug employees of DHL, call on DHL to take immediate action to resolve significant dangerous and unacceptable safety violations occurring at CVG. DHL prides itself in being a socially conscious multinational conglomerate. But as your workforce on the ground, we see beyond DHL’s highly cultivated public image and we find that DHL’s actual practices suggest differently. Your practices suggest that the German conglomerate cares very little about the safety of its own employees whose dedication and hard work makes this company billions of dollars in profit each year. Already a company that tolerates and maintains on its employment rolls supervisors that refer to their staff as inmates in a prison and physically assault an employee, the company’s workplace practices have led to worker injuries and put many others in jeopardy of significant injury at work. Just a few of the examples of your failure to provide a safe workplace are as follows: 

We are forced to work in the dark with no lighting as we unload planes and tug them on busy taxiways. We often resort to using our cell phone lights. Out of desperation, we have been asked to seek out non-DHL equipment like headlamps in order to complete our work safely. 

The whole purpose of blue, black, and yellow lines on the taxiway which keep us from collisions with each other or planes is rendered moot when those lines have faded to where they are difficult to see. The already near impossible task of seeing these lines in the rain are only made worse by faulty tug wipers that should be replaced sooner and on a regular basis. 

Exhaust fumes leak into tug cabs. Some tugs have no pry bar or dolly hitch. Staff have had injuries like smashed fingers as a result. Engine covers fly open due to faulty latches leading to potential catastrophes. 

Equipment is so poorly maintained that there is free-for-all at the start of shifts among staff trying to get the working equipment. DHL consistently disregards or encourages employees to violate its own policy regarding safety and communication among crews pushing out planes. We often do no not have the minimally required number of headsets for crews to communicate with our colleagues or the pilots. Some crews do not have headsets at all.  Those headsets that do exist are often dysfunctional. 

We demand that DHL begin to respect their workers, provide lighting on the back row of the main, and the middle row of the expansion, purchase new equipment or fix faulty equipment, and make any and all changes that will allow you to live up to your claims of providing a safe workplace for your employees.