Supply chain management and third-party logistics company DHL Supply Chain has notified the state of 144 potential layoffs in Detroit as it vies for new contracts.
DHL said in a notice filed with the state that it had scheduled the 6500 Huber St. facility to close on March 27 for around three months or so for maintenance. Its potential reopening depends on whether an expired service agreement with a customer is replaced or extended, the notice said.
That customer is FCA US LLC, according to Don Moran, vice president of Detroit-based Teamsters Local 299, which represents the workers.
Westerville, Ohio-based DHL Supply Chain is a subsidiary of German Deutsche Post DHL Group that serves automotive, chemical, energy, health care, other manufacturing, retail and technology sectors, according to its website.
DHL said in its Jan. 26 notice to the state that the shutdown is for “maintenance reasons,” but acknowledged that a reopening is not guaranteed.
“DHL’s services agreement with the customer our operations support currently expires March 31, 2020,” DHS said in the notice. “At this time, we do not have an agreement to provide services beyond that date and we have no guarantee a new or extension agreement will be reached, or that any potential successor service provider to our customer will make offers of employment for current DHL employees …”
DHL spokesman Dan McGrath confirmed in an emailed statement that the company’s agreement with “a customer” for third-party logistics had not yet been renewed, but declined to disclose the customer’s name. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice was sent as “a precautionary measure,” McGrath said. The state WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to give advanced notice in the event of a business closing or mass layoff.
A request for comment from Auburn Hills-based FCA was not returned.
Fiat Chrysler is working on a $2.5 billion expansion of its Jefferson North and Mack Avenue assembly plants in Detroit for Jeep and Dodge vehicles. Retooling FCA’s operations in Detroit means attractive work for suppliers — at least those that get chosen. DHL is one of the closest logistics providers to land swapped in the city of Detroit’s deal with FCA to prepare a large enough site for the automaker on the city’s east side, Crain’s reported.
“That location there (on Huber), that’s been under union contract for about 15-plus years,” Moran said. “They do contract work for Chrysler and what they do, they bid on work and sign these contracts … Right now FCA is retooling for another vehicle that’s going to come out of the same plant so there’s a bidding war between all these companies.”
Moran said the DHL employees could transfer to another facility in Mount Clemens if DHL doesn’t get contracted for more work in Detroit. He expects to learn more soon.
“There’s going to be a lot of job opportunities, especially in that area,” Moran said of FCA’s east side Detroit expansion. “We’re just waiting to see. Nobody has a definite answer right now … that’s (why) everybody’s on pins and needles.”
