Meat raids: Althusmann calls for a “clear advantage” | NDR.de – news

Status: 23.09.2020 8:00 pm – NDR 1 Lower Saxony

After the raids in the meat industry on Wednesday, Lower Saxony’s Economy Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) reacted with outrage. He described the allegations that the workers were smuggled in as “incomprehensible” and “apparently sees a high level of criminal energy.” Clearly some in the industry still did not understand that the policy would “drain this swamp.” “We will act with all the necessary consistency and severity against these illegal machinations,” Althusmann told the NDR in Lower Saxony. The law on the prohibition of employment contracts should be passed as soon as possible. One will “show a clear advantage.” This is necessary because the 2015 voluntary commitment “just didn’t work.” In Lower Saxony, around 100 officials searched eight apartments and businesses in Garbsen (Hannover region), Papenburg, Twist (Emsland district) and Bassum (Diepholz district).

“The industry does not want to adhere to law and order”

It is good that the rule of law intervenes consistently, said the president of the DGB in Lower Saxony, Mehrdad Payandeh. She demanded that the occupational health and safety law be implemented without flexibility. The bill stipulates that employment contracts and temporary work in the meat industry should be banned from next year. “This industry simply does not want to adhere to law and order. It would be completely wrong to believe in the guarantees and voluntary solutions of the meat industry.” The Greens’ agricultural policy spokesperson in the Lower Saxony state parliament, Miriam Staudte, insists that tough measures should not only be taken against those behind the scenes and behind the scenes. It cannot be that those responsible in the slaughterhouses go unpunished.

NGG: Uncompromising on the prohibition of employment contracts

The food-gourmet-restaurant union (NGG) believes that the policy has an obligation to quickly enforce the ban on work and services, without compromise. “This swamp can only dry up if the legislative proposal proposed by Hubertus Heil is adopted one by one,” said Matthias Brümmer, managing director of the NGG Oldenburg / Ostfriesland region. “Then we have the situation that employment contracts and temporary work are finally prohibited.”

Allegation: falsified documents for temporary workers

The researchers focus on a German company and a Polish company with a branch in Germany. They are said to have proceeded independently of each other following the same pattern and brought workers from Eastern Europe to Germany with false documents. It is also said that they placed so-called fake students as employees in the industry with falsified enrollment certificates. The defendants supported the workers in their dealings with the authorities, arranged accommodation and transportation for them, and then deducted these services from their wages. Eight men and two women between the ages of 41 and 56 are considered the main culprits. They are being investigated on suspicion of commercial and gang smuggling and document falsification.

Who did the illegal workers work for?

As part of the raid, 820 federal police officers searched the offices of temporary employment agencies, the homes of business owners and workers’ accommodations in four federal states. In Weißenfels (Saxony-Anhalt), where the largest meat company in Germany, Tönnies, operates a slaughterhouse, 49 lodgings were registered. A Tönnies spokesperson said their own company had not been searched; this also applies to all other Tönnies companies in Germany. According to a spokesman, the federal police want to know which companies they worked for in the interrogations and surveys of workers. So far, more than 20 people have been found suspected of being illegally employed, either through forged documents or as “fake students.” According to the federal police, they are threatened with expulsion from Germany.

1.5 million euros confiscated

During the raid, the police seized data carriers, business records and documents, among other things. In addition, they calculated an amount of 1.5 million euros, which is said to have been generated by the criminal business model. This money was confiscated. A special commission has been investigating the case since April. According to the Federal Police, the investigations began after officials at border crossings and train stations repeatedly detained travelers with allegedly falsified documents. The initial suspicion that the people involved are working illegally in the meat processing industry through recruitment agencies was subsequently confirmed.