TUMTIS organized a demonstration in front of Istanbul headquarters of DHL to protest of dismissal of Monica Nkechi Okpe. Ersin Türkmen, Istanbul branch leader of TUMTIS made a speech there demanding the immediate reinstatement of Monica Okpe, shop steward and branch secretary of Norwegian Transport Workers’ Union and calling DHL to act in accordance with the company’s own code of conduct and to respect workers’ rights and freedom of association. Branch leaders, UPS workers and ITF-TUMTIS international project manager Molly McGrath also participated in the protest.
Türkmen said “DHL states that they are respectful to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Global Compact and ILO’s conventions and that DHL’s Code of Conduct covers all of its workers. According to the UN Global Compact in which DHL is a participant since 2006, the employer agrees to respect the rights of workers’ to join a union and to provide that there will be no discrimination between workers. Again, according to UN Global Compact, DHL has agreed that its operations should “strive to meet international standards and not infringe on human rights”. ILO conventions 87 and 98 also guarantee the right to freedom of association and protection of the right to organise. It is obvious that trying to get rid of an active unionist does not accord with any of above agreements and DHL Code of Conduct. We demand DHL to reinstate Monica Okpe right now and to respect workers’ rights. We also want to state that we will be active in supporting Monica Okpe in accordance with the action plans of the ITF”.