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At several meat factories, so many Corona employees are positive that entire districts have a problem. Are there abuses in slaughterhouses? An issue today in the Bundestag, not for the first time.
By Holger Schwesinger, tagesschau.de
For years, there have been repeated debates about conditions in German slaughterhouses. In addition to the question of how good hygiene is and how animals are handled there, the working conditions of employees are particularly criticized. Complaint reports are often followed by an announcement that things need to improve. And sometimes a law is followed, such as the one with the hopeful name “Law to Safeguard Employee Rights in the Meat Industry” in 2017.
And every time the issue is debated, some say it’s just a few black sheep that discredit the entire industry. Others claim that the problem lies with the system and ultimately also with the fact that the consumer simply likes to log in when the 600g package of pork chops is available again in the store for 3.99 euros.
This time it also affects the residents of the slaughterhouse.
It’s the same this time: in the Corona crisis. But suddenly, one thing is different: the problem affects not only animals and factory workers, but also people living in the region. In several counties, the accumulation of crowned infections among slaughterhouse employees was the reason the entire district entered the critical zone and in part also exceeded the upper limit of 50 new infections per week per 100,000 population.
If this limit is broken, the district must take protective measures; This is what the federal and state governments have agreed on. For the approximately 220,000 people living in the Coesfeld district of North Rhine-Westphalia, this means, among other things, that they have to go without a visit to the restaurant longer than the residents of Münster or Steinfurt.
Union pressure too
Is this now increasing pressure on politicians and the meat industry to really change conditions in factories? At least the Bundestag will discuss this at a current time in the afternoon. The Greens have requested it. They call for tighter controls on companies and better job security for employees, who often come from abroad and only work indirectly through employment contracts.
The European Union is also pushing: Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner warned the industry and supervisory authorities: “There are rules that must be absolutely observed and compliance must be verified by the responsible authorities,” he said after they knew the cases. However, Klöckner is one of those who sees the problem in the system less than in people’s misconduct: “Black sheep damage the reputation of the entire industry,” said the CDU politician.
“Difficult to understand the structures of the company”
His party colleague Karl-Josef Laumann seems to see him a little differently. He is Minister of Labor in North Rhine-Westphalia and had submitted a report on controls at NRW slaughterhouses earlier this year. 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 Food, Enjoyment and Catering Union (NGG) reaches a similar conclusion. People employed in the killing industry through employment contracts with often dubious subcontractors “have been ruthlessly exploited for many years,” said NGG Vice President Freddy Adjan. Employers not only conveniently outsourced their work, but also any liability to subcontractors. Corona’s cases are “a sad result of extreme pressure from meat prices.”
“A sick system”
Stephanie Töwe, Greenpeace agriculture expert, accuses Armed Forces Minister Klöckner of ignoring the abuses for years. “The minister does not recognize that it is not about individual black sheep, but about a sick system.” The corona pandemic only exacerbates long-standing problems in the meat industry: “Animal suffering, exploitation and unsanitary conditions are the extreme consequences of the cheap meat industry.”
The industry itself rejects these general accusations. Germany’s largest meat processor Tönnies warned of new cases against putting the entire industry under general suspicion. And on the home page of the Westfleisch company, based in Münster, which operates the slaughterhouse in Coesfeld, it says: “We are fully aware of our responsibility.”
Meat dressing: not competitive for individual accommodation
The meat association also rejected the allegations because of its role as essential infrastructure during the crisis. Therefore, the meat industry cannot simply stop production like the car industry, said association chief Heike Harstick of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. The industry continued to work to secure the food supply.
Harstick also withstood the demands of tougher editions. For example, if employees stipulate an individual accommodation and this would result in higher apartment rents, many companies would no longer be competitive. Parts of the industry would then migrate. “From our point of view, it is not primarily the working conditions that are to blame for the crown outbreaks,” said the head of the association.
“Cheap grilled meat is too dear to us”
As is the case whenever it refers to conditions in slaughterhouses, there are also those who warn against transferring responsibility only to politics and / or the economy. This includes, for example, the auxiliary bishop of Cologne Ansgar Puff.
Everyone is afraid of the many crown cases in slaughterhouses, Puff says. “But really the only truth comes out that we always close our eyes.” The grill festival is so cheap just because Eastern Europeans work as slaves in slaughterhouses. “We love cheap grilled meat.”
