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Members,
We want to make you aware of a brazen attempt by DHL Express Canada to circumvent new federal labour laws. The company has sent a letter to the federal government requesting a special exception from the effects of Bill C-58, the anti-scab legislation that comes into effect on Friday.
Let’s be clear—DHL is not the victim here. This company locked out its own workers, forcing members to respond with strike action. They chose confrontation. Now, instead of negotiating a fair agreement at the table, DHL is running to Ottawa asking for special treatment to get around a law designed to protect workers and safeguard the integrity of collective bargaining.
Read Unifor’s response to DHL’s application here.
As of June 20, 2025, anti-scab legislation is finally a reality due to years of advocacy by Unifor and the labour movement. It levels the playing field and prevents employers from dragging out disputes by using scabs. If DHL doesn’t want to face the consequences of a lockout, they should end it and negotiate fairly.
In its letter, DHL throws out numbers to make the union’s proposals seem unreasonable. But these figures are designed to distract from the real issues and mislead both the public and the government. While Unifor will not negotiate in public, our proposals are grounded in fairness and reflect the reality of rising costs and the need for dignity and respect on the job—especially after a year of stalling and aggressive concession demands from the company. For owner-operators, any proposed increases are directly tied to soaring fuel prices, growing vehicle operation costs and a fair wage increase that keeps pace with inflation, realities DHL has consistently refused to recognize.
DHL has aligned itself with the 'Moving Economies' coalition—a group of employers actively working to roll back workers’ bargaining rights and weaken federal protections. This latest request for exception to allow DHL to keep using scabs and/or excessive government intervention in the bargaining process is part of that broader effort to undermine the tools that workers rely on for fair and meaningful negotiations.
Meanwhile, here’s what DHL doesn’t mention: throughout bargaining the company has demanded significant concessions that would severely hurt workers. These include:
• Changing the driver pay system in a way that would result in less money for drivers.
• Forcing drivers to travel up to 100 km just to reach their routes or pick up freight—with no compensation.
• Proposing language that would allow the company to refuse WSIB and general workplace accommodation requests.
• Refusing to acknowledge and provide wage adjustments to customer service and other classifications – some of which are just barely ahead of minimum wage.
• Seeking the ability to lay off employees more easily.
• No recognition for job loss that may occur through the use of AI.
• Attempting to reduce the daily minimum guarantee for drivers.
• Rerouting pickups across the country while cutting pay for owner-operators.
DHL’s decision to lock us out has already disrupted operations—and they want the government and the public to believe that’s our fault. But the power to resume full service and support customers is entirely in DHL’s hands. This crisis is of their making.
Let’s be absolutely clear: The only place this dispute gets resolved is at the bargaining table.
Unifor will stand firm, and we expect the federal government to stand firm. No exemptions. No bending the rules.
Just a fair contract for the workers who keep DHL running every day.
In solidarity,
DHL Bargaining Committee
