Kaufland in the heart of Bergkamen should close. But the conflict does not end there; it has only just begun. An online petition has now been launched.
Bergkamen – With the announcement of the closure of Kaufland in Bergkamen-Mitte, one could have thought that the legal disputes between the works council and the company would have become superfluous. But the opposite is the case: the conflict is worsening. In addition, an online petition has been launched to maintain the market.
| city | Bergkamen |
| district | Unna district |
| area | 44,8 km² |
| Residents | 50.407 |
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Kaufland conflict in Bergkamen: employer stands across
At first the employee representatives took a sideways position, now it is the Kaufland employer: In the proceedings for the dissolution of the works council in the city branch, the company rejected the settlement proposal of the Dortmund labor court. This makes it increasingly unlikely that employees who have been released since May 2020 will return to their workplaces until the announced store closure at the end of April. Meanwhile, a concerned citizen has started an online petition to keep the market in the town hall center.
The legal tug-of-war is hardly understandable for the layman. On the one hand, the works council is suing for a risk assessment for the jobs in the City-Markt because Kaufland has not yet fulfilled this legally stipulated task. On the other hand, the labor court has to deal with the application of around 40 of the approximately 100 employees currently released to dissolve the works council. In this way, they want to ensure that they can return to their jobs even if the risk assessments are missing.
Kaufland conflict in Bergkamen: proclamation probably only after Easter
The comparison, according to which employees could have waived the need to obtain an assessment in advance, was initially accepted by the employees making the application. The works council viewed him critically in the negotiation at the end of February – according to his lawyer Albrecht Seidel, because it would have meant an unacceptable waiver of employee rights. Last week the U-turn came and with it the okay – possibly in the hope that Kaufland will reverse the closure announced on March 10th.
The company, on the other hand, already had sympathy for the proposed settlement during the negotiation. In this respect, the rejection came as a surprise. The labor court now sets a date for the announcement ex officio. “It will probably only be available after Easter,” says a spokesman.
Kaufland conflict in Bergkamen: “Disappointment and incomprehension” at the works council
Kaufland does not comment on the reasons for the rejection. When asked, it says: “Since we are responsible for around 100 employees, it is important to us to be able to offer all employees a permanent job. Please understand that we are not commenting on the legal dispute. “
Lawyer Seidel meanwhile harshly criticizes the company. A press release speaks of “disappointment and incomprehension”. Kaufland “quasi rejected its own settlement proposal”, so his interpretation. The approach of the company as a whole and thus also the cost-intensive commissioning of an external company to manage operations remains “incomprehensible”.
Kaufland conflict in Bergkamen: Sufficient jobs in neighboring branches?
According to Seidel, the number of employees in the City-Markt has now dropped to 93. The lawyer writes literally: “It can only be described as a scandal that the multinational Schwarz Group from Neckarsulm, to which Kaufland belongs and which has an estimated annual turnover in the three-digit billion range, which has risen sharply during the corona pandemic Europe’s largest grocer, has now destroyed 93 jobs in Bergkamen, apparently to set an example of a courageous works council that has only tried legally permissible means to regulate occupational safety in the market. “
According to Seidel, the works council does not assume that all employees – as announced by Kaufland – can be offered a job in the surrounding branches. The committee is not aware of any vacancies at these locations – least of all in the necessary number. According to Seidel, the discussions with the employees, which were set up by Kaufland and have since been banned by the courts, apparently only served the purpose of “unsettling the workforce and making the interested public believe that Kaufland is facing up to its responsibility as an employer”.
Kaufland conflict in Bergkamen: already 400 signatures against closure
The online petition was started by Markus Wernau. The son of the Rünther SPD local association chairman Monika Wernau grew up in the Bergkamen district, but now lives in Werne. According to the 35-year-old, it is about securing jobs in Bergkamen-Mitte, but also about ensuring that the local people still have the opportunity to reach a grocery store on foot. “Not everyone has a car.”
“I hope that it will bring something,” said Wernau when asked about the chances of success of the petition that he posted on the website change.org has started. By Wednesday noon they had signed 400 people digitally.
Wernau now wants to email the Kaufland Group as quickly as possible so that the city branch can still exist beyond April 30th.
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