In principle, everyone agrees on the goal. It is about better conditions in stables and slaughterhouses, but also higher prices in the supermarket. In Düsseldorf have federal agriculture ministers Julia Klöckner, her North Rhine-Westphalian colleague Ursula Heinen-Esser and Lower Saxony’s head of department Barbara Otte-Kinast were invited to an “industry talk”. Representatives of animal owners, the meat and food industry, retail, the Federal Cartel Office, veterinarians and consumer protection groups should be there.
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But before the meeting started, criticism was heard. The DGB and the Greens spoke of a mere show event. DGB board member Anja Piel complained that representatives of the employees had only been invited “after the fact” and “at the last minute”. Apparently, a sustainable improvement in the working conditions of employees in the meat industry should not be in the foreground, said Piel of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.
Critics are leading the spread of the Coronavirus in the industry due to the working conditions and the accommodation of many employees in cramped communal accommodation. Many Eastern Europeans work in the slaughterhouses, which are employed by subcontractors.
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Readjustment necessary
Klöckner explained in advance that readjustment of the livestock farming in Germany. More animal welfare, better prices and fair working conditions are necessary. Meat and sausages are often too cheap.
Green Group leader Anton Hofreiter called for “fundamental change in the entire chain”. “Better laws, targeted funding and more transparency are needed”. Hofreiter accused Klöckner of inviting her to a “mere show event” from which “apart from beautiful confessions” little could be expected. The minister was “miles away” from non-partisan, overall social solutions.
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“Thousands of people infected with corona in the slaughterhouses, miserable working and living conditions, suffering animals and people who are angry because they have to suffer the consequences of this policy: The Minister of Agriculture does not seem to have grasped the seriousness of the situation,” said the Greens- Group leader.
Doubts about the ban on work contracts
DGB board member Piel appealed to the federal government to implement the envisaged reforms in the meat industry “quickly and legally.” The federal government wants the work contracts to be prohibited in slaughterhouses. Only employees of their own farm should be allowed to slaughter and cut animals. A cabinet decision provides for the work contracts to be banned from January 1, 2021. Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to prefer this.
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Piel also warned of “smoke candles” from individual meat manufacturers who have announced that they will voluntarily renounce contracts for work. “There have been enough announcements and promises – but nothing has happened,” she said. Nothing can ignore a legal regulation against work contracts. “This is the only way to get a handle on the problems that have arisen from years of abuse,” emphasized the trade unionist.
However, the Union faction raised doubts about the prohibition of contracts for work. To want to ban these contracts only in one branch is “very constitutionally questionable”, said faction vice Gitta Connemann (CDU) of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. The instrument is also used in many other industries.
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