Corona at Tönnies or Amazon: Is it due to the worker accommodations?

Currently, mass infections at the meat processor Tönnies in Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany, are making headlines. At the same time, the union ver.di has once again called for strikes at Amazon’s logistics, this time at several locations. This time, it is less about wages and mainly about hygiene measures. The question arises whether this is due to workplace hygiene or rather to the accommodations where many of the foreign workers are housed in crowded conditions.

By: Andreas Müller

(Berlin/Rheda-Wiedenbrück) The United Services Trade Union (ver.di) has called on employees at six locations of the mail order company Amazon to strike on Monday and Tuesday. This continues the campaign for the conclusion of a collective agreement “Good and Healthy Work,” which began last week with action days at several of the company’s branches.

Strikes at six Amazon locations

“We are intensifying our efforts because Amazon has shown no insight so far and is endangering the health of employees for the sake of corporate profits,” explains Orhan Akman, responsible for retail and mail order at ver.di. He refers to the recent coronavirus outbreaks at Amazon locations such as Bad Hersfeld. “According to our information, at least 30 to 40 colleagues have been infected there,” says Akman. “As in the case of the spread of Covid-19 in Winsen (Luhe), the company management is once again stonewalling and refusing to provide clarification. This endangers the safety and health of colleagues, their families, and local residents.”

The strikes in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld (with two locations), Rheinberg, Werne, and Koblenz (Kobern-Gondorf) will begin with the night shift on Monday and will last at least 48 hours. Additionally, accompanying actions are planned at other company locations where strikes are currently not possible due to the applicable Covid-19 prevention regulations.

Is the problem in the mass accommodations?

In general, the problem of infections at both Tönnies and Amazon cannot be solely attributed to the workplace. It can be assumed that a lot has been done regarding the coronavirus there. However, when guest workers, mostly from Eastern Europe, live in accommodations in cramped conditions, even the best hygiene measures are of no use. Due to their wages, these individuals can usually not afford their own apartments. Therefore, they rent mass accommodations or rundown hotels and cram several workers into one room. Maintaining distance is almost impossible there. When these individuals then return to their shifts and come into contact with other employees, the disaster happens. This could also explain why external employees tend to remain isolated in terms of infections, as they typically only commute between mass accommodations and the workplace.

This does not differentiate the meat processor Tönnies from many large logistics companies. As long as employees from abroad are hired at rock-bottom wages, whether or not there is a temp agency involved, and these individuals are housed in mass accommodations, the danger of mass infections hangs over the heads of employees like a sword of Damocles. And at the workplace, they may still come into contact with local colleagues.

The rental of accommodations for employees is often shifted onto subcontractors, i.e., temp agencies. This is a recurring problem when it comes to cheap labor. This model is only profitable due to wage differences; for both sides.

Innocents in quarantine

It becomes critical when, as in the case of Tönnies, entire districts are put into quarantine. It is particularly severe when other countries or federal states begin to issue travel warnings for the affected districts. This borders on exclusion and discrimination. If such a situation is caused by a single company, it can become costly.

For this reason alone, it is worthwhile for every company to ensure that hygiene rules are followed. Fortunately, the above examples are isolated cases.

Photo: © Amazon

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