regardless. and it's contract workers close up. next on d w. people who world over information they provide. the fenians they want to express g w on facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us. 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 companies afraid of reading books facility caught coronavirus most came from eastern europe and lived in

cramped shared apartments like these. if it has only so many people live in such a small space that might be the one telling that to the 10 people who. contract workers get less money and fewer rights and not just in the meat industry. german labor minister who now wants to change things campbell 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. to 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 by police their work at the slaughterhouse has been suspended. around 7000 employees are in quarantine. a few kilometers away a relief operation is underway. residents have made donations for the workers one of the organizers is in a. knew that for over 70 years she's been fighting for the rights of chinese

workers. here this much more than we ever expected it happened at very short notice our idea here is to give cab packages in solidarity said the web to see that this anger isn't directed at them but if others huge there's something going on. over 1000 packages have been collected containing food toiletries and even toys for. george and stan mammie head off distribute donations and fail for many chinese workers live in shared apartments. the hayloft in georgieva give support to migrant workers from eastern europe. they translate for us here. one bowl garion says he's been a meat cutter for china's for 18 months. we're going to offer you 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 underdog. the man is employed by

a subcontractor he gets the minimum wage 9 years 35 an hour and he hasn't received a paycheck for months he lives here in an 80 square metre apartments with 8 others next door we meet some men and women from all of them and that the men are contract workers for tenuous and also live here and collective accommodations how many people live here we ask a 29 s. 3 room apartment we want to know more about the tourney's 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 it must feel good the other one takes our camera and goes off to take some pictures. look like they're following you under but after a few moments he comes back another man appears behind him and he doesn't seem to like the contract worker talking to us. the worker is told to give the camera back

well this is it we ask who the man asked. is it that the boss. yes it sure yeah yes and. he sends the workers back into the house would he ordered them to leave father the 5th of ah it's a shame that happened by. i need to avoid because some of them wanted to talk to us and to tell us what was happening to them in the defeat. i hope there are no bad consequences for them now for. 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 bill. 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 of to 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 more positive. locals were also being tested. and soon the district went into lockdown again then turned as working conditions became a bogus of global attention. a small village in the south

of romania. whom. alberto gogu lives in this house with his family he literally pled from the data beaten balkan made june. as a contract worker attorney as he experienced the corona virus outbreak he says physical distancing at work was impossible. even in the canteen it was too crowded dockery if it was he beats the same way and 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 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's 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 aside to debate of even both works with around 25 sub contractors who mostly source their workers from eastern europe. of a total of $16500.00 employees only half are employed by turn yes 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 that turn yes she decided to act. in 2013 she and others found. in a group to help those affected by exploitation of employment. she shows us articles about her work. as early as 2014 the group was pointing out contract workers often alarming living conditions. the doubt the plan of the building near the top and use

labels to share what we see there'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. or shows us a cell phone video she made in a flat shared by turning us 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 they took their concerns to the highest level. zeugma then economy minister and vice chancellor visited that night. he took notes as he heard about the situation.

there was a view into the sea if he was so interested we felt sure that now something would change when he left the house we choose we said now something will happen. she could hardly believe what happened next clements tanya's took gabriele on a guided tour of his meat processing plant 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 at tenuous later he wrote on facebook it's good that turn yes sets positive standards and an industry that also has its share of bad apples. 5 years on. briefly worked. as a consultant for 10000 euros a month and turn us with all his contacts in the political world as 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. temporary workers either a lot of them have been with me for over 10 or 15 years. from a cheap super market my cost 6 year as a kilo charge is double that it's not only because of higher wages large

slaughterhouses have lower costs and factory farmed fakes are cheaper. advertised as regional pork that's all very well but look the certification of all is one that's industrial pig farming where only the lowest requirements of animal welfare. as president of the german tortures association 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 euro's businesses that slaughter several 1000 animals a day pay less according to regional peace scales and he doesn't need all that the big industrial places. the price is at most $150.00 to $2.00 euro. in addition small butchers pay higher fees for disposing slaughterhouse waste and spend more on electricity because of renewable energy levies no money isn't trying to match the

industrial slaughter house prices but he does want more support from politicians one and we don't want special treatment just equal treatment. giant slaughterhouses aren't just a threat to smaller competitors but often to their own workers to focus on is the chairman of the charity coffee toss in the district of good he's witnessed how the chinese company went from being a simple put your store to germany's largest slaughterhouse and meat processor he says clements turning us 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 and to news if they also profit because if there are blatant violations it's always the subcontractors fault as always keeps its hands clean so this. bugging you can has been advising tanya's

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. and from march 5th on the technically the minimum wages 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 a turn us are from for parts of eastern europe they speak hardly any german. they're brought to the country and put into cramped shared a comedy. asians this also has wider effects on the region this shift. this business model means that more and more poor people with little education come to the region and it's some point society is no longer able to cope with it

definitely threaten social cohesion. we asked chinese holding comment on the living and working conditions of contract workers in a written response the company didn't go into any detail but it 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. 1 factor 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 2010 . development is there 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 his labor reforms also known as the hearts reforms weekend workers' rights that's because it's a. good deal what the hearts laws brought with them was enormous deregulation of protector labor market provision. 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. off it's 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 and. 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 it has nothing to do with periods of peak demand. spits and. 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 even if we do these enormous gigawatt young bush contract work releases the employer from all the obligations they normally have to their employees mange and. maybe by workers through a subcontractor the way they buy screws or other goods on this big include all the costs are personnel costs and their material costs falls on them that's the cost.

of the turn 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 born to spot 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 stalk lawmakers be author minigame has been fighting against precarious employment in the meat and agricultural industries for years if robin and dusty 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 initially are people we think it's very important that safeguards a strengthened and that this one single safeguard mechanism for wages working hours to patients to house and safety house 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 approach labor minister who betters hile after the bone just hot session. we prod 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 which mean why can't the government do anything about precarious employment in germany for. 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 as a road in recent years with your fewer and fewer employers are employees association and in many sectors far too few employees are in union or so 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 there's no effect on dozens watching 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 on the core activities of the meat industry. beaten with that who battles hile 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. i strongly disagree. professor ma so pasha works for the german institute for economic research. there are just one of those trying to. bring to 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 not sunanda fact is that german companies are very competitive internationally not because of atypical employment but because of their highly productive employees of it mima. 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 the meat industry that 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 29000 we reported on how workers here for striking for better wages. says the head of the employee organization at the time philip keynes fought

for years for a collective agreement. mr cuyler no negotiations i mean a lawyer is refusing to talk to the union according to the employee organization 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 canes again he's now union secretary at the trade union verity we ask what's changed at the d.o.j. . it was hard it's worse today than it was before we now have twice as many contract workers as permanent staff. do you mean if a deal and teddy 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 is ation means insecurity and lower pay

for employees. it's not just about the meat industry contracts are a problem there 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. 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 atypical 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. and a recent study for the better has month foundation the german institute for economic research found that around $7700000.00 germans had low wage jobs. more than a 5th of employees work for less than 60 percent. the median income 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 to.

the danish food trade union and we meet 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 at the big danish. almost all employees are directly employed by the company. much higher. german meat cutters generally only get the statutory minimum wage of 9 years 35 an hour. receive a standard wage of $27.00 euro on average almost 3 times as much. for 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 then you can a 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. no electrician will come to that company no truck driver will drive in or out and so. sooner or later we can persuade them to enter into a collective agreement or. even turn us itself faces those conditions in denmark. we also have to news here in denmark it has to slaughterhouses one in blue and one in tested are their workers contract workers. not all their employees employed

by. they get the same as everyone else in the industry. in denmark shows that it's possible to run a business successfully and fairly. profit making through precarious employment is something germ. he 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 to.

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