General Logistics Systems


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

Operations

GLS operates within 41 European countries, eight U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and also has a partnership network. In the 2019/20 financial year, GLS shipped 667million parcels for more than 240,000 customers, generating revenues of €3.6billion. GLS has about 28,000 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.

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. 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.

External sources