[ad_1]
The disease recently erupted at several slaughterhouses in Germany. Experts are not surprised: working conditions favor spread.
German slaughterhouses are increasingly becoming critical points in the crown. In April, the disease erupted at a meat products plant in Birkenfeld, Baden-Württemberg. Abattoirs in Coesfeld and Oer-Erkenschwick (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Bad Bramstedt (Schleswig-Holstein) are now affected. The meat industry has been criticized for many years due to working and accommodation conditions. Therefore, industry experts are not surprised that there are so many infections there now.
The food, entertainment, restaurant (NGG) union is convinced that the accommodation of workers, many from Eastern and South Eastern Europe, many employed by subcontractors, favors the spread of the virus. Head of Unit Thomas Bernhard says: “They live close together.” Too many small apartments, too many people in them, too few sanitary facilities, “a big problem”. Regarding a case in Saxony-Anhalt, Dominique John of the DGB initiative “Just Mobility” says: “Old apartment blocks were rented and nine to ten people were accommodated in an apartment.”
Slaughterhouse in Bad Bramstedt: Companies in Germany seem to be becoming sources of risk. (Source: imago images)
Protective measures are taken in factories: “But it is quickly forgotten behind the factory door,” Bernhard complains. This is also due to the inadequate information provided by their foremen. This year, the Eastern European assassins were unable to return home due to crown restrictions during Easter. “So they spent a lot of time together.” Furthermore, they are often “driven to work and to accommodation in crowded buses and bullis.”
“Difficult to understand the structures of the company”
Catholic priest Peter Kossen, who has been campaigning for better working and living conditions for migrant workers for years, sees his fears confirmed. In April, therefore, he wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil (SPD) and to the NRW Minister of Labor, Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU). In it he called for better protection in meat factories and other factories. “Coesfeld will not be the last case,” he warns. “Slaughterhouse workers are exhausted from the hard work and are therefore particularly vulnerable.”
Committed: Prelate Peter Kossen has been working for migrant workers for years. (Source: imago images)
Over the weekend, authorities dealt with the crisis in the Coesfeld case. Teams from the health department set out to evaluate the workers in the shelters. The virus was detected in more than 200. The Münster Administrative Court rejected an urgent request against the temporary closure of the company of 1,200 employees. He referred to official inspections, according to which there were problems with the stripping tape and the changing rooms with a minimum distance of 1.50 meters. Masks are not always used correctly.
In general, the meat industry has been criticized for a long time. Only earlier this year Laumann presented a report on controls at NRW slaughterhouses. Conclusion: “Inadequate deductions from wages, poor health and safety at work and unworthy adaptations”. The industry is characterized by “difficult to understand business structures, the frequent use of contractors and the predominant employment of workers from Eastern Europe”. The slaughterhouse operator “assumes no legal responsibility,” according to the report.
However, the industry is resisting accusations from substandard housing workers. “With very few exceptions,” this criticism is without merit, the meat industry emphasized last October. Germany’s largest meat processor Tönnies warned of new cases against putting the entire industry under general suspicion.
Left MP: so far very few controls
Little is known about the living conditions of employees in Coesfeld. They are “probably more decentralized than in large units,” said a spokesman for the Münster district government. Westfleisch said Saturday night: “In general, the accommodation for production employees, including that of our employment contract partners, is similar to that of families and shared apartments, most of which are occupied by three four or five people. ” Most foreigners working at the Bad Bramstedt abattoir live on the premises of a barracks in a shared accommodation. The country ordered that the hygiene of the collective housing of the meat industry for temporary workers and harvest assistants be revised.
So far, very little control has been carried out, says left Bundestag member Hubertus Zdebel. He referred to the official response to a question from his group. Based on this, the number of company visits by health and safety authorities at NRW decreased by more than a third between 2008 and 2018. On average, a company is only verified every 25 years.
