One of the largest kebab factories in Germany is on strike. What does that mean?

Hundreds of thousands of kebabs go over the republic’s piss points every day. Many of them with meat from the kebab manufacturer Birtat. But there is unrest in the Swabian province: employees of the company from Murr near Ludwigsburg have been on the streets for weeks. They fight for more money with drums, whistles and warning vests – and a house collective agreement.

According to the Trade Union Food Guese, the management has not yet been responded to the demands (NGG). The employees now want to increase the pressure. What consequences this could have for the kebab care and the industry-an overview of important questions and answers.

BIRTAT belongs to the Meat World SE and, according to the NGG, is the largest manufacturer of kebab skewers in Baden-Württemberg-and one of the leading providers in Germany. In the Murr factory, the employees are meat from the calf, chicken or beef on skewers and give the whole the traditional form. The skewers are then shocked and delivered.

According to its own, BIRTAT provides thousands of snacks and reaches more than 13 million consumers per month. “You can taste our products almost in every big city in Europe,” said a company spokesman. One is a market leader. Meat World recently made annual sales of around 200 million euros.

According to BIRTAT, the NGG is worked partly on the assembly line with a very high frequency and under time pressure. “Our work is really hard,” says works council chief Muzayfe Doganer. Shooting meat, marinating, putting different skewers: At low temperatures in production, this is a bone job. According to him, the company produces 35 to 40 tons of kebab skewers every day.

The employees also always fought against the weight of the kebab skewers, which could weigh a good 100 kilograms. “And we always work with sharp knives,” says Doganer. There are security measures such as gloves – but the risk remains.

The payment falls behind, many Birtat employees find. It goes “crisscross”, some in 50-euro steps, says NGG negotiator Magdalena Krüger. That is completely arbitrary. Criteria according to which the fees are distributed are not recognizable.

Personal relationships and individual negotiation skills have so far been crucial for the payment. One tells on the edge of a warning strike: “I’ve only been employed for a few weeks, but I get more money than some colleagues next to me who have been there for years.”

The Doner Factory workforce started organizing itself unionized a year and a half ago. There is also a works council. Linguistically, this was not an easy task, reports works council chief Doganer. In addition to German, the company also speaks Turkish, Bulgarian and Romanian. The workforce has been fighting for more money since February.

In order to relieve the approximately 115 employees in Murr, the NGG demands an increase of 375 euros. “The pressure on the wallet of the employees is great,” says Krüger. However, the union started with the aim of a transparent and non -discriminatory fee and an entry -level content of 3,000 euros. This is still the goal – but first the employees would have to be relieved.

In March there was the first hearing between the collective bargaining commission and the executive floor. However, there has been largely radio silence since the fourth appointment was terminated in early July. At that time, the Birtat leadership made it clear that it categorically rejected a collective agreement, says Krüger. The union accuses the person responsible.

Before the first warning strike, a company spokesman said at the end of May that he considered the union’s demand to be very high. At first, Birtat did not answer a current request for the tariff conflict.

Very classic: with industrial action. The employees are now practiced in it. They already have ten outstanding. According to the union, the participation was high every time.

And the intensity increases: In mid -July, the NGG went on the company for five days in a row. In addition, there was a vote among the union members in Birat with a clear result last week. They unanimously spoke out for an expansion of the outstanding.

According to the NGG, Birtat production was largely paralyzed for one day in the past outstanding. So far, nothing has become known about the company’s delivery problems. She is silent about it. If there are longer strikes in the near future, the supply of kebab meat could be scarce in one or the other snack.

Even if a tariff is succeeded, this would probably have consequences for consumers: In the past, experts assumed that the final price for kebab could reach the 10-euro limit. This is particularly due to the beef prices, which the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture have increased significantly in recent months.

The same applies to energy and other raw materials. Higher personnel costs would be added. The NGG does not see it this way: “A collective agreement could simply lead to the profit to a larger part of those who generated it,” it said.

According to Doganer, the pressure in the company is high. Employees have already been pressed. Individuals also worked on strike days because they were afraid of termination. The corporate management also threatens to complete the company in Murr. Doganer is still confident: “We have to fight. But I think we can do it.”

The union has also announced that it has staying power. According to the NGG, a collective agreement would be unique in the industry. It is a pilot project. According to the association of kebab producers, there are around 400 kebab manufacturers in this country.