Change a long time coming for subcontracted slaughterhouse workers
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Change a long time coming for subcontracted slaughterhouse workers Germany’s new Occupational Safety and Health Inspection Act, passed in December 2020, has banned subcontracting in the meat industry, a practice that was exploited on a large scale to hire migrant workers on less favourable terms and conditions. In an industry that has long been dogged by harrowing tales of working conditions, a mass outbreak of Covid-19 in a meatpacking plant became a catalyst for reform. The Act is an important milestone for the sector not just in Germany but across Europe, where pressure along the supply chain has created similar problems in multiple countries. Bethany Staunton ETUI ↱ Many factors make abattoirs particularly susceptible to transmission. Photo: © Martine Zunini 14 HesaMag 23 . Spring 2021 Special report
"On the killing beds you were apt to be cov- An open secret
ered with blood, and it would freeze solid; if
you leaned against a pillar, you would freeze Germany is renowned for its strong indus-
to that, and if you put your hand upon the trial relations system. Yet over the past few
blade of your knife, you would run a chance decades, companies in the meat sector have
of leaving your skin on it." managed to find holes in the fabric of this
Upton Sinclair’s classic American novel system by hiring workers under various
The Jungle, the story of an immigrant fam-
ily from Lithuania working in the abattoirs
"alternative" forms of contract, such as sub-
contracted, temporary agency and posted
"They stand shoulder
of Chicago, was published in 1906 to both work. Official information about the inci- to shoulder, sweating
critical acclaim and public outrage due to
its unflinching portrayal of the dire condi-
dence of contract workers in the meat in-
dustry is only available for some companies,
due to the hard work."
tions in a meat industry dominated by big but Specht estimates that in 2020 some 30-
business and rife with exploitation and un- 35 000 workers (around one third of the
sanitary practices. meat industry workforce) had a precarious
Fast-forward over a century later, to status, in some plants accounting for up to
June 2020. A mass Covid-19 outbreak 80-90% of the workforce.1 Specht explains
in a meatpacking plant in the North the implications of this: "Tönnies is not at plant, explains, "The subcontracted work-
Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany drags all responsible for any of their working or ers could not participate in the [works
the issue of working conditions in the meat living conditions. [The company’s] line is: council] election [with some exceptions].
industry into the spotlight once again. More 'My main workforce is not mine'. Covid-19 As a result, these employees were not seen
than 1 500 workers, out of a 7 000-strong put a spotlight on the situation." as part of their own workforce and there-
workforce, test positive, leading to lock- It became clear from multiple research fore less responsibility was shown towards
downs of the nearby districts of Gütersloh and investigative reports that subcontract- them." This, combined with "language bar-
and Warendorf and a lot of bad publicity ing in this sector had become a business riers, a large fluctuation, and the poor expe-
for the plant’s owner, the Tönnies Group. in itself.2 In their work on this topic, re- rience of eastern European workers in their
Tönnies is a behemoth in the German meat searchers Dorothee Bohle and Cornel Ban homelands with trade unions," made this
industry, far surpassing its closest competi- discovered this system to be sustained by mobile workforce a difficult group to or-
tors Vion and Westfleisch in workforce size, a vast and complex "archipelago of recruit- ganise. Finally, the problematic health and
market share and turnover (7.3 billion euros ers". Bohle, professor of social and political safety situation was further exacerbated by
in 2019, according to the company). change at the European University Insti- a low rate of workplace inspections, which
Many factors make abattoirs particu- tute, explains how "almost mafia-like sub- were critiqued for often being announced
larly susceptible to transmission, even in contractors recruit and channel people to in advance, giving the employers time to
the best of conditions. "They stand shoul- more powerful middlemen," who have con- prepare.
der to shoulder, sweating due to the hard tracts with the large German companies. In
work," says Johannes Specht, head of col- fact, "mafia-like" is a term that often comes
lective bargaining at the Food, Beverages up in interviews in reference to what Ban, Feeling the pressure
and Catering Union (NGG), which repre- associate professor at Copenhagen Business
sents meat industry workers in Germany. School, calls the "understudied actors of big According to Thorsten Schulten, head of
"They breathe deeply, it’s air-conditioned meat" — from German multinationals to the collective agreements archive of the
and cold." However, it soon became clear small-time recruiters in Romanian villages. Institute of Economic and Social Research
that workers were labouring in circum- In Bohle’s words: "everybody benefits". (WSI), things weren’t always this way: "Up
stances that were far from "the best of con- Such a system of precarious contracts until the 1990s, we had branch-level col-
ditions". In fact, what also helped the virus made the monitoring of conditions and ac- lective agreements, so there was relatively
to spread so easily was the fact that many of cordance with labour law that much more high coverage. But then the whole system
them were living together in cramped quar- difficult. One of the biggest problems was changed." The German meat industry be-
ters and travelling to the plant together in working time: according to trade union gan to rely heavily on labour from eastern
shared cars or public transport. Why? Be- sources, workers had often been found
cause they were migrant workers, primarily to be working 10, 12, even 16 hours a day.
from Romania, Poland and Bulgaria, hired The next and related issue was pay. Despite
indirectly by "subcontracting agencies" to the introduction of a statutory minimum
work at the slaughterhouse. Suddenly, The wage in Germany in 2015 (currently €9.35,
Jungle didn’t seem like ancient history which is already lower than other western
anymore. EU countries), unpaid overtime and unjust 1. For more information
on the structure of the
subtractions from salaries for living and German meat industry and
travel costs meant that these workers were its workforce, see Erol S.
often earning far below what they should and Schulten T. (2021),
WSI Report 61, p. 9.
have been. This migrant, casual workforce
"This is not just
2. See Solomon E., Hopkins
was also to a great extent blocked from V. and Vladkov A. (2021)
a German but a workplace representation. As Armin Wiese, "Inside Germany’s
abattoirs: the human cost
NGG Detmold-Paderborn managing direc-
European problem."
of cheap meat", Financial
tor and officer responsible for the Tönnies Times, 8 January 2021.
Special report HesaMag 23 . Spring 2021 15
Europe, first via bilateral quota agreements ↱ Wiebke Warneck,
with individual countries, before these EFFAT’s Political
Secretary for the food,
were rendered unnecessary by the EU en- drink and tobacco
largements of 2004 and 2007. The Posted sector. Photo:
Workers Directive (1996) gave workers and © Martine Zunini
agencies the "freedom to provide services"
in another EU country, while remaining
under the labour law and social security
system of their home country3. In the ab-
sence of a statutory minimum wage in Ger-
many (until 2015), this also meant work-
ers could be paid the (far lower) pay rates
of the sending country. In 2015, German
firms agreed to stop using posted workers,
instead turning to subcontractors based in
Germany — now migrant workers were em-
ployed according to German law, but critics
maintained that unlawful practices on the
part of subcontractors, together with these
large companies’ abdication of employer re-
sponsibility, meant that abuses continued.
Schulten is adamant: "The German meat
industry has been following a wage dump- and Lidl, which she calls a "special breed"
ing strategy and been very successful at it. due to their emphasis on bargain prices. In "The whole business
model relies on cheap
The whole business model relies on cheap this chain of pressure to maximise profits
labour." In his view, the reinstatement of in- and drive down labour costs, the sector’s
dustry-level bargaining is a vital element to firms, workers and trade unions across the labour."
achieving true reform. continent all feel the heat.
But this is not just about Germany. Af- According to the "Meat-up Ffire" report,
ter a reflective pause, the NGG’s Johannes an EU-financed research project on the pork
Specht comments: "Trade unions in many value chain, compared to Germany, several
countries are very interested in what is other meat-producing countries, particu-
happening here because Tönnies was put- larly in northern Europe, have maintained "multi-service" companies. These are just
ting pressure not only in Germany but higher labour costs and wider collective some of the ways that companies are trying
also in other countries because it was the bargaining coverage in this sector. In Den- to compete in a highly competitive Euro-
number one producer. The NGG was even mark, for example, a very high unionisation pean (and global) context. In the words of
sometimes blamed because slaughterhous- rate and an absence of subcontracting has Somaglia, "The meat sector is facing major
es elsewhere kept being closed down." This kept slaughterhouse workers, both native challenges everywhere in Europe."
is something that Enrico Somaglia, depu- and migrant, better protected. But such an
ty general secretary of the European Fed- industrial relations landscape is, unsurpris-
eration of Food, Agriculture and Tourism ingly, not always seen as the most "favour- A new chapter?
Trade Unions (EFFAT), would concur with: able" environment for big business. Multi-
"A very negative process has developed nationals such as Danish Crown (Denmark) However, the wind could finally be blowing
around Europe, because to remain compet- and Vion (the Netherlands) have moved in the right direction for those pushing for
itive, in other countries the sector had to many of their facilities to Germany over the reform. In December 2020, the Bundestag
launch similar processes like subcontract- years. In Belgium, where the labour costs in (German parliament) passed the Occupa-
ing. Our affiliates complain a lot because a the industry are also comparatively higher tional Safety and Health Inspection Act
lot of jobs have been lost due to the unfair and a binding industry-level agreement is (Arbeitsschutzkontrollgesetz), which im-
competition in Germany." This process has in place, companies also began to relocate mediately banned subcontracting in the
been further intensified by the development or subcontract activities to Germany. This meat industry (with a further ban on tem-
of large retail chains with greater bargain- actually culminated in a formal complaint porary agency work as of April 2021), as
ing power, which demand cheap meat and a about unfair competition and social dump- well as obliging the electronic recording of
lot of it; Bohle points in particular to the in- ing from the Belgian economy and employ- working hours and introducing a minimum
fluence of such German discounters as Aldi ment ministers to the European Commis- workplace inspection rate, amongst other
sion in 2013. In Italy, meanwhile, where measures.
the sector is more fragmented into smaller But will it be enough? Despite cele-
businesses, trade unions are facing issues brating this watershed moment, unions
3. See Rasnača Z., of "bogus co-operatives" and what EFFAT still have many concerns, and not without
Bernaciak M. (eds) calls "collective bargaining dumping" — cause. After all, hopes have been falsely
(2020) Posting meaning the application of less favoura- raised before. Enrico Somaglia remembers,
of workers before
national courts, ble collective agreements than those in "In 2015, German companies committed to
Brussels, ETUI. the meat sector through subcontracting to not using posted workers anymore. And in
16 HesaMag 23 . Spring 2021 Special report4. The Pure Food and
the same year, we had the introduction of unless there is really a European re-regula- Drug Act and the
the minimum wage in Germany. And we tion of these working relations." Meat Inspection Act,
all thought, 'Ok now in Germany, it’s over. And this is exactly what EFFAT is fight- 1906.
There is no exploitation anymore.' But then ing for. The organisation published "10
they started with subcontracting." demands for action at EU level" which in-
The fear now is that companies will find clude "regulating the use of subcontract-
ever-inventive ways of evading this new law. ing in the meat sector" and "instituting a on working conditions went largely unad-
Before it was even passed, Tönnies was re- system of full chain liability covering both dressed, famously declaring: "I aimed for
ported to have founded 15 subsidiaries with cross-border and domestic situations", "a the public’s heart, and by accident hit it in
fewer employees. While there is still much legally binding EU instrument ensuring the stomach." This is a form of "dirty, dif-
debate about whether this action would decent housing for all mobile workers", and ficult and dangerous" labour that we prefer
be successful or was even intended to cir- "the urgent introduction of a European So- not to speak of, that we outsource to the
cumvent the lower employee threshold for cial Security Number" to make it easier to most vulnerable in our society who take
the contract ban — Tönnies declared that perform checks on pay and conditions. In on the burden of intense physical and psy-
this did not disprove its intention to hire light of the chronic problem of ineffective chological strain that it can involve. The
employees directly — the NGG remains on workplace inspections, EFFAT are also enforcement of truly effective measures to
guard. Meanwhile, the vast network of in- calling for the greater empowerment of the protect them could mean a moment of reck-
termediaries studied by Bohle and Ban will European Labour Authority to carry out oning for the entire industry. ●
most likely not be disappearing into thin cross-border inspections. On this point,
air. As Bohle points out, "Where these ma- Wiebke Warneck, EFFAT’s Political Secre-
jor players are, these middlemen also own tary for the food, drink and tobacco sector,
part of the real estate that is then rented to emphasises the importance of looking at
migrant workers. So they cannot disappear the bigger picture: "Generally speaking, we
from there." And the companies themselves don’t have enough controls throughout Eu-
FURTHER READING
could start moving more facilities to other rope — the first big cut of labour inspectors
countries. In September 2020, there were came with the financial crisis. And it’s not Campanella P. and Dazzi D. (eds.)
reports of Tönnies planning a €75 million just an issue in meat. It’s not just an issue (2020) Meat-up Ffire: fairness,
investment in a new pork-processing plant in Germany." freedom and industrial relations
in Spain. Finally, as is clear from all of the Infamy has long dogged this industry, across Europe: up and down
above, working conditions in the meat in- peaking at various moments in history, the meat value chain, Milano,
dustry is not just a German but a Europe- often due to consumer, environmental or FrancoAngeli.
an problem, meaning that European solu- animal welfare concerns. Sinclair’s novel
EFFAT (2020a) Covid-19 outbreaks
tions may be required. Bohle is certainly was a catalyst for the introduction of new
in slaughterhouses and meat
convinced of this: "[These practices] are food safety legislation in the United States. 4
processing plants: state of
going to be reproduced in other countries But the writer felt frustrated that his focus
affairs and demands for action
at EU level, Brussels, European
Federation of Food, Agriculture
and Tourism Trade Unions.
↴ Enrico Somaglia, EFFAT (2020b) Hungry for
Deputy General
Secretary of EFFAT. fairness: raising standards in the
Photo: © Martine Zunini meat sector EFFAT’s 10 demands
for action at EU level, adopted
by the Executive Committee on
10 September 2020, Brussels,
European Federation of Food,
Agriculture and Tourism Trade
Unions.
Erol S. and Schulten T. (2021)
Renewing labour relations in the
German meat industry: an end to
'organised irresponsibility'?, WSI
Report 61, Düsseldorf, Institute of
Economic and Social Research.
Wagner B. and Hassel A. (2015)
Labor migration and the German
meat processing industry:
fundamental freedoms and the
influx of cheap labor, The South
Atlantic Quarterly, 114 (1),
204-214.
Special report HesaMag 23 . Spring 2021 17You can also read
