Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Berlin’s tech workers unite to fight for labor rights

Berlin’s tech workers unite to fight for labor rights

Workers at companies including TikTok, Gorillas, Flink and Tesla are trying to form work councils despite opposition from some tech employers.

Works councils, union-busting and wildcat strikes hark back to the bitter industrial disputes of the 1970s and 1980s.

But it is today's Berlin where there is a growing movement of workers who are organizing themselves — and employers who are resisting.

The battles aren't over steel mill picket lines; they're in the renovated lofts of hip neighborhoods that now host spacious office spaces with a view of the river, just like TikTok's premises in Berlin’s nightlife hub Friedrichshain.

The tech giant, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is the latest in a series of tech companies that tried and failed to block employees from forming a works council, a workers' committee that can negotiate with management. There are other efforts underway at many of Berlin's tech darlings, including food-delivery firms Gorillas and Flink, as well as carmaker Tesla.

Works councils are a cornerstone of Germany's success in resolving labor conflicts, and employers need to check with them on restructuring or mass layoffs. They are not unions, which represent workers across companies and can call strikes and negotiate salaries. A works council focuses on conditions at one company and can be set up in any firm with more than five workers, with the council members shielded from dismissal.

Many employers see them as the enemy. Three people told POLITICO that an elected member at the works council of a German startup stated that they want "to see the company destroyed."

Hikmat El-Hammouri, of Germany's second-largest trade union, said works councils answer a need. Workers at TikTok were organizing because "wages have not risen in tandem with the economic success, and employees have to put up with ever larger workloads,” he said.

Working conditions for content moderators cause great psychological strain, he said. Reports cite moderators watching thousands of disturbing videos every day, including beheadings and child abuse.

TikTok took legal action after employees pushed for a works council for the first time last year. It successfully blocked the first attempt because labor law requires the election of the council to happen in person and pandemic restrictions made that impossible. A second attempt two weeks ago succeeded, with the support of the trade union Ver.di, which said TikTok had dropped its initial opposition.

TikTok declined to comment.


Delaying tactics


Elon Musk, who usually doesn’t hide his aversion to unions, didn't stand in the way of elections for a works council at Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin. But there was a catch: Tesla management drew up a shortlist of its preferred candidates but failed to win enough support from workers, meaning the final committee had to include rival candidates.

Grocery-delivery service Gorillas made the unusual move of switching to a franchise model just days before a works council election, which made each warehouse an independent unit, a move that some said aimed to dodge the legal requirements.

A Gorillas spokesperson denied this, saying it "fully supported the process of forming the works council at all times and provided the employees with the necessary material resources."

Flink, Europe's largest grocery-delivery company, is right in the middle of maneuvers over council elections. The company pushed for a vote in July, while organizers wanted more time to explain the initiative to migrant workers and foreign students unfamiliar with the concept.

Bicycles stand upturned next to the Gorillas food delivery service warehouse during a protest in 2021 in Berlin, Germany


Martin Bechert, a lawyer who advises employees on works councils, described the delay as a company tactic that risked invalidating the election.

“This is the 101 of union-busting,” he said.

POLITICO saw documents that showed that a worker was dismissed on June 30, a day after a manager asked his name after spotting him hanging up posters on the elections.

A Flink spokesperson said it only opposed the delay because it confused employees and that “due to the short notice and unclear communication we asked the labor court for support.”

The court didn't back the company, which means the election will now take place in September.


The bigger picture


Companies may be shooting themselves in the foot when they stymy workers' efforts to organize and demand better pay and working conditions. Politicians are watching — and many of them are sympathetic to employees exercising their legal rights.

“We see that people who want to establish works councils are being harassed," said German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil earlier this year. Officials must "ensure that those who obstruct the formation of works councils will soon have to deal with the public prosecutor."

Germany's new startup strategy also cited the need for companies with a rapidly growing workforce to ascertain that "employees can exercise their co-determination rights at work.”

The German Startups Association said such labor conflict isn't widespread and the focus on works councils doesn't mean a company without one treats workers poorly.

But unions are rejoicing. After decades of falling membership, the employer-employee battles around works councils have raised the profile of trade union membership. Ver.di says that many TikTok employees joined after the works council was set up there.

El-Hammouri said Berlin workers just want to make sure that their wages and conditions also reflect the "incredible economic success" of the city's booming tech scene.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×