General Logistics Systems

Last updated
General Logistics Systems B.V.
Industry Postal service
Founded1999
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Area served
Europe, United States
Key people
Rico Back, CEO
ServicesPostal/Parcel delivery/Collecting
Revenue€2.5 billion
Owner Royal Mail
Number of employees
about 17,000 [1]
Website www.gls-group.eu
GLS vehicle in Tomaszow Mazowiecki (Poland) Samochod kuriera holenderskiego GLS w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim.jpg
GLS vehicle in Tomaszów Mazowiecki (Poland)

General Logistics Systems B.V., often shortened to GLS, is a British-owned logistics company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was founded in 1999 [2] and is a subsidiary of the Royal Mail. [3]

Contents


Operations

GLS operates within 41 European countries, eight U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, [1] and also has a partnership network. [4] In the 2016/17 financial year, GLS shipped 508 million parcels for more than 270,000 customers, generating revenues of €2.5 billion. GLS has about 26,000 vehicles servicing over 70 distribution centres. About 50% of turnover comes from Italy with more than 100,000 customers, 6,250 vehicles and 15 hubs. [1]

Criticism

In mid-September 2016, hundreds of parcel delivery workers took strike action in Italian cities of Bergamo, Brescia, Piacenza, Bologna and Parma against GLS and its subcontractors to protest against poor working conditions. On the night of 14–15 September 2016, a van broke through a picket line formed by workers in front of the plant operated by GLS subcontractor SEAM in Piacenza. The van struck and killed Egyptian worker Abd Elsalam Ahmed Eldanf. It was reported that eyewitnesses heard the plant's Chief of Staff ordering the driver to break through the picket line. [5] The Piacenza Prosecutor's office concluded that no strike or protest was taking place at that moment and therefore ruled the death was a car accident. The driver was subsequently released, prompting 7,000 workers to take to the streets in Piacenza and at other GLS offices in Italy, as well as from other firms. [5] [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Facts and Figures
  2. GLS History
  3. Royal Mail Group: Our businesses
  4. The Company
  5. 1 2 "Logistics worker killed while on strike". Labournet TV. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. Arens, Marianne (4 October 2016). "Italy: Strikes and protests against the Renzi government's "Jobs Act"". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 8 December 2016.

External sources

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