indeed i see a sure. i feel sure. but how would the world sell with the biggest composer of all time i can't even begin to imagine a world class horn player single willis on a musical journey of discovery. world without beethoven starts september 16th on the w. . producing more faster and for less money that's how turn us became germany's biggest meat processing company and how clemens turned us became a billionaire. but in june 1500 contract workers at the company's afraid of beaten facility caught coronavirus most came from eastern europe and lived in cramped

shared apartments like the. people because the ones that many people live in such a small space they might be one telling that to 10 people who had to. contract workers get less money and fewer rights and not just in the meat industry. german labor minister who because high are now wants to change things in p.r. will ban contract work and temporary work in the core activities of the meat industry because the pandemic called attention to contract worker exploitation in germany. the town of failed near fate of eating pork at the end of june thousands of people from eastern europe are essentially under house arrest guarded by police their work at the turn a slaughterhouse has been suspended. around 7000 employees are in quarantine. a few kilometers away a relief operation is under way of eating pork residents have made donations for the workers one of the organizers is. ng approach knew that for over 70 years she's

been fighting for the rights of turn his workers. feared this much more than we ever expected it happened at very short notice all right gary sick of cat packages in solidarity said the web to see that this anger isn't directed at them but if others eaters there's something going on. over 1000 packages have been collected containing food toiletries and even toys. maina georgieva and stand mammy hayloft distribute donations and failed for many chinese workers live in shared apartments. in the hayloft in georgieva give support to migrant workers from eastern europe. they translate for us here. one bulgarian says he's been a meat cutter for 10 years for 18 months. we're going to are going to go in for example if a veterinarian marks any spots on the pig that are not suitable for consumption but one of his jobs is to cut them off as an adult. the man is employed by

a subcontractor he gets the minimum wage 9 year olds $35.00 an hour a day he hasn't received a paycheck for months he lives here and an 80 square meter apartment with 8 others next door we meet some men and women from all of them and the men are contract workers for 10 years and also live here and collective accommodations how many people live here we ask 8 to 9 that's 3 room apartment we want to know more about the tourney as workers living conditions we say will give them a camera for 20 minutes so they can take some pictures of their place one of the men refuses. you must show off the other one takes our camera and goes off to take some pictures. look like they're all in europe but after a few moments he comes back another man appears behind him and he doesn't seem to like the. worker talking to us. the workers told to give the camera back.

to see we asked who the man asked. is it that the boss. this is your yes yes and. he sends the workers back into the house would he ordered them to leave father the 5th so far it's a shame that it happened. i need to avoid because some of them wanted to talk to us and to tell us what was happening to them. i hope there are no bad consequences for them now and for the. workers behind fences guarded by police. how did it come to this. in june 2020 there was a corona virus outbreak attorney and innovative beaten book germany's largest slaughterhouse these pictures are from before the pandemic. in the ventilation system is said to be to blame the mass infection as well as insufficient physical

distancing between employees. one of the workers talked about his experiences in a cell phone video. as long as you felt healthy no one worried that you kept working. they only cared about the money. they didn't care if we died or not. it's likely the employees spread the virus from the workplace into their homes many live with 3 to 4 people in a single room so the outbreak grew. more than 6000 chinese workers were tested more than 1500 were positive. locals were also being tested. in june the district went into lockdown again then turn is working conditions became a bogus of global attention. a small village in the south

of romania. alberto gogu lives in this house with his family he literally fled from a data beaten book in mid june. as a contract worker attorney as he experienced the corona virus outbreak he says physical distancing at work was impossible. even and i can't team it was too crowded dockery if it was he beats us in mind we were told to distance ourselves but that was impossible otherwise we'd have to be standing up and. alberto says that when the 1st workers got sick he and his colleagues had to work much more he was doing up to 12 hours a day on the production line even when he felt sick himself. because i told the boss i'm not feeling well i have to see a doctor she said you're not going anywhere. alberto was afraid

of catching coronavirus so he went back to romania and mid june. he spent the last 12 years doing contract work in germany but after his experiences in the last few months he says he's had enough. of the. thousands of people like alberto gogu working turn yes even though the company doesn't actually employ them. here's how the system of contract work and temporary work functions usually companies have a core workforce if there's more to do it short notice temporary workers can be hired. they become part of the company for a limited time temporary work is rare in the meat industry what's common is contract work. this is when a company hires sub contractors to carry out a specific job like cutting up animal carcasses. the sub contractor sends its

workers to do the job the original company pays for the work to be done but doesn't take responsibility for the personnel who do it they don't belong to the company. to turn a site of 8 of even both works with around 25 subcontractors who mostly source their workers from eastern europe. of a total of $16500.00 employees only half are employed by turning us the other half are contract workers. that's the system being a bunch need it is fighting against when she heard about the poor working and living conditions a turn yes she decided to act. in 2013 she and others founded a group to help those affected by exploitative employment. she shows us articles about. for work. as early as 2014 the group was pointing out contract workers often alarming living conditions. of doubt the plan of the building with the top and use

of labels to show what we'd see they'd be a bad and even that might be a bunk bed so many people live in such a small space there might be one toilet for 10 people. shows us a cell phone video she made in a flash shared by turn yes workers. the living rooms are filled with beds $3.00 to $4.00 people sleep in one room. the bathroom is completely rundown. today many say they knew nothing about the situation. but neither and her fellow activists have been criticizing these conditions for 7 years in 2015 and they took their concerns to the highest level. zeugma then economy minister and vice chancellor visited that night that he took notes as he heard about the situation.

into the sea if he was so interested. that now something would change when he left oh how sweet she said now something will happen. she could hardly believe what happened next. clements turn yes took gabriele on a guided tour of his meat processing plants in front of the cameras it was a p.r. coup for the businessman the vice chancellor was full of praise despite knowing about the problems a tenuous later he wrote on facebook it's good that sets positive standards and an industry that also has its share of bad apples. 5 years on it. briefly worked for clemens turnus as a consultant for $10000.00 euros a month and turn us with all his contacts in the political world is one of

germany's richest people with an estimated private fortune of up to 2000000000 euros enough to employ a host of contract workers whose poor living and working conditions have been known for years and even former german vice chancellor. not every part of the meat industry relies on contract workers there are still around 13000 so-called craft butchers in germany. runs 5 of them in bremen. his family business employs around 70 people. how many of your personnel are contract workers. none of them. they wouldn't be here if i put them on a work contract and temporary workers. are temporary workers. either a lot of them have been with me for over 10 or 15 years. or more jobs from a cheap supermarket might cost 6 year as a kilo dome on charges double that it's not only because of higher wages large

slaughterhouses have lower costs and factory farmed fakes are cheaper. it's advertised as regional pork that's all very well but look the certification of all is one that's industrial pig farming were only the lowest requirements of animal welfare for phil. as president of the german torturers association don't one says small but yours are at a disadvantage for example a government certified veterinary examination of a pig costs a small business up to $24.00 euros businesses that slaughter several 1000 animals a day pay less according to regional peace scales and be done and he was moved to leave it at the big industrial places that prices at most $150.00 to $2.00 euros. in addition 'd small butchers pay higher fees for disposing slaughterhouse waste and spend more on electricity because of renewable energy levies norman isn't

trying to match the industrial slaughterhouse prices but he does want more support from politicians one and we don't want special treatment just equal treatment on. giant slaughterhouses aren't just a threat to smaller competitors but often to their own workers too. is the chairman of the charity company toss in the district of good test low he's witnessed how the turn his company went from being a simple butcher store to germany's largest slaughterhouse and meat processor he says clemens turn yes made his fortune at the expense of workers. to this is not true to hold a news makes most of the profit of course there's no question that they've exploited the poverty gap for professional gain. to news is they also profit because if there are blatant violations. it's always the subcontractors fault as always keeps its hands clean. and has been advising chinese contract

workers and their families since 2016. he and his colleagues have held more than 10000 consultations he knows the methods used to keep monthly wages low. technically the minimum wage is what's on the pay slip but then there might be $150.00 or $300.00 euros deducted for accommodation or for cleaning materials or shoes whatever they can deduct or they increase the rent when people are sick that type of thing there isn't much left over from the minimum wage. most of the several 1000 contract workers attorney yes far from for parts of eastern europe they speak hardly any german. they are brought to the country and put into cramped shared accommodations this also has wider effects on the region. this business model means that more and more poor people with little education come to the region and in some point society is no longer able to cope with it

definitely threaten social cohesion. we asked. to comment on the living and working conditions of contract workers in a written response the company didn't go into any detail but he did say it aims to gradually change working conditions plans to directly employ workers in the areas of slaughtering cutting and packaging by the beginning of 2021. year that led to the current situation was a concerted political push for labor market flexibility. that was a key part of social democrat chancellor gerhard schroeder's so-called agenda 20. 1 is their fear ladies and gentlemen we're going to have to cut. back on state benefits demand personal responsibility and ask more from each individual.

agenda 2010 ushered in contract work temporary work and so-called many jobs at the university of applied sciences and professor stefan examines the cause it's a precarious employment he says leaders labor reforms also known as the hearts reforms weekend workers rights bus yachts because it's a. good deal with the hearts laws brought with them was enormous deregulation of protector labor market provision. and they enable temporary work and in my view they made it easier to abuse something like contract work. order. since the hearts reforms employers in many industries have used all legal means to keep wages low and profits high even though contract work was really designed to address seasonal demands for extra labor. the problem in many industries is that the core business activity is now

permanently carried out by contractors. we've seen it in the meat industry. we also see it in logistics but above all in the construction sector. there the general work has been done by contract workers for years and it has nothing to do with periods of peak demand. contract work has many advantages for employers if workers stay home because of illness vacation or pregnancy it doesn't cost the employer a cent contract workers also have no voice within the company. and it will free these enormous. contract work releases the employer from all the obligations they normally have to their employees. maybe by workers through a son. contractor the way they buy screws or other goods on this we can cause all the costs our personnel costs their material costs on time that's the cost. of

attorney a scandal brought yet another shock to the political establishment pushing lawmakers to ensure that workers from abroad who were paid fairly. germany's upper house of the bone despotic voted on a bill to guarantee that workers from other e.u. countries would get the same pay as german colleagues an effort to prevent so-called social dumping. going to talk lawmakers be author minigame a cut has been fighting against precarious employment in the meat and agricultural industries for years if hauled out and. demanding that contract work and temporary work be prohibitive when it comes to a business is cooler activity in this example companies have to take responsibility themselves and you know italy are people we think it's very important that safeguards is strengthened and that this one single safeguard mechanism for wages working hours to patients to house in safety health protections and accommodation.

again and again there have been legislative attempts to protect workers from social dumping and abuses of the contract work system. we asked germany's labor ministry for an interview about the issue several times without success so instead we approached labor minister who backed his heil after the bone just hot session. we brought a list of almost 20 legislative initiatives intended to stop precarious employment relationships in recent years almost all were either rejected or languished in a desk drawer. promises why can't the government do anything about precarious employment in germany is this because it's the state's job to do something but in our system it's above all the job of stakeholders like unions and employers and there's the problem with our system of social partnership has eroded in. recent years with your fewer and fewer employers are employers association and in many sectors far too few employees are in union to put the blame at the door of unions

and employers doesn't quite wash yet we push the minister on why there's been little action from politicians it was no effect on dozens looking for funding by lobbyists you only have to see that in these cases either the lobbyists have watered down laws or if there were strong regulations circumvented them with trickily written contracts involving sub sub contractors that's a good yes i'm determined to clean up the industry through digital recording of working hours by emphasizing the responsibility of states to adhere to binding inspection quotas with work safety authorities and not just in the meat industry and by having clear and enforced rules regarding employee accommodation. because the strictest rules are of no use if they're not enforced and we're going to ban contract work and temporary work are in the core activities of the meat industry. beaten with that who battles hisle would be taking on some of the biggest companies in europe big in part because they keep wages low through contract work. we asked

the employers association for food and consumption for comment they declined an interview directing our questions to a meat industry employers group the s.p. a they gave us this written response regarding the planned abolition of contract work and temporary work in the meat industry. contract work is an important instrument of flexibility without flexibility the meat industry would go abroad and more than 50 percent of jobs will be threatened. the s.p.s. argument is one that employers often make. but others strongly disagree. professor myself posher works for the german institute for economic research. the richest and of course not it's nice to get rid of germany's not in danger of losing this industry if there are fewer atypical employment arrangements. that's

a myth with no basis in fact. that the fact is that german companies are very competitive internationally not because of atypical employment but because of their highly productive employees. this is a typical employment includes temporary work and contract work but also so-called many jobs fixed term contracts and part time work almost a 3rd of german workers have this kind of employment that figure has risen sharply since the 1990 s. . and it's not just a meat industry it happens in many other sectors including logistics. the dortmund logistics company or deals g.e. is a subsidiary of discount retail giant teddy it supplies teddy stores throughout europe . in october 2900 we reported on how workers here were striking for better wages. says the head of the employee organization at the time philip keynes fought

for years for a collective agreement. must occur or no negotiations i mean a lawyer is refusing to talk to the union according to the employee organization of the company had about 640 employees and 2019 of these about 350 were said to be contract workers. only 290 women and men were on permanent staff. a year on we meet philip keynes again he's now union secretary at the trade union verity we ask what's changed at the d.o.j. . as. it's worse today than it was before we now have twice as many contract workers as permanent staff. do you mean a good deal in teddie are really pushing to use contract work to oust their own employees. the reduction of permanent staff is in full swing in many industries. what employers call flexible ization means insecurity and lower pay

for employees. that's right definitive it's not just about the meat industry contracts are a problem. used to be entrepreneurial risk the entrepreneur had the money but they also had the risk if there was no work to do that's fallen completely by the wayside today they say they need people to be on call when there is work but they should just disappear when it's done just so long as they don't have to pay anyone to stand around. the german institute for economic research is. also critical of the fact that companies often exploit contract work and other such employment arrangements. see that option but just politics. it can't be the goal of german economic policy to participate in undercutting competition in europe to push wages even lower and promote ever more atypical employment. after all we know that the goal of companies has to be to be productive and to offer better

products. and we can see that a typical employment tends to damage that kind of competitiveness but. since the 1990 s. germany's low wage sector has grown by 60 percent mainly thanks to chancellor schroeder as agenda 2010. in a recent study for the better as month foundation the german institute for economic research found that around. point 7000000 germans had low wage jobs. it's huge if in fact more than a 5th of employees work for less than 60 percent of the median incomes and less than 11 year olds 40 an hour if. that's a lot of people by international standards is 16 feet. in almost all neighboring countries and there are fewer workers in the low wage sector than in germany. and denmark for example workers in the meat industry are much better paid. in.

the danish food trade union and. jim henson. he used to work as a meat cutter himself. we asked him how many contract workers there are in the danish meat industry. why not. because they have to be employed according to collective agreement they have to be hired by the employer and they have to work for the agreed wages that's the big danish small business almost all employees are directly employed by the company. wages are also much higher. german meat cutters generally only get the statutory minimum wage of 9 year olds $35.00 an hour. danish employees receive a standard wage of $27.00 euro zone on average almost 3 times as much i mean surely no one can afford danish meat at those rates then maybe 2 or 3 percent of the cost of a cutlet will be labor costs it might be 2 percent in germany and 3 percent in denmark

no more so the wage competition is only to make profit you can make more profit in germany think you can and denmark. says danish meat companies also try to push down wages but here almost all employees are in the union that unity makes the workforce strong when companies don't want to strike collective agreements. we can ask for help and support from the other unions then no electrician will come to that company no truck driver will drive in or out and so on. sooner or later we can persuade them to enter into a collective agreement. even turn yes itself faces those conditions in denmark. you have we also have 2 news here in denmark that has to slaughterhouses one in book and one in tested are their workers contract workers. not at all their

employees employed by 2 and yes they get the same as everyone else in the industry . denmark shows that it's possible to run a business successfully and pay employees fairly. profitmaking through precarious employment is something germany has perfected above all other european countries the practice should end in 2021 at least in the meat industry as for other industries this legal exploitation is likely to continue.

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check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast can also find us and dot com look forward slash science. this is g w news longer from berlin to 19 no longer in a coma the russian opposition leader a legacy not only has regained consciousness and is responsive doctors treating of all the here in berlin say they have taken him out of the induced coma he's been in since becoming ill more than 2 weeks ago the german government says not only was poisoned with the nerve agent nobody joe also coming up tonight to crack down on

bill russo opposition leader maria. has reportedly been abducted in broad daylight .