Christmas parcels delayed at French airports due to DHL strike

Many parcels are held up at airports and warehouses in France due to a strike by workers at transporter DHL and risk not arriving in time for Christmas.

The strike, which ran between December 9 and 13, saw 80% of workers at DHL France participate. It resulted in a backlog of deliveries and pick-ups affecting around 12,000 packages a day, according to unions.

Unions were angered by “the absence of mandatory annual negotiations” and the cancellation of a bonus worth around €3,000.

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The strike ended on Friday, December 13 after an agreement was reached between management and unions.

Nonetheless, the four day strike was particularly damaging as the run up to Christmas usually sees delivery companies handle 50% more packages than in any other month.

On returning to work, one DHL employee told TF1 that there were “thousands of parcels” held up in warehouses.

However, DHL France sought to downplay the potential disruption.

“No, there are not thousands of parcels waiting to be delivered,” Fatah Ziani, DHL Express France's Director of Operations told BFM. 

“All these parcels will be delivered even if they are a little late, and we will provide our services to all our customers in the end.”