Long working hours, poor working conditions – a study by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation looks at the situation of parcel deliverers.
Parcel deliverers in Düsseldorf: Working conditions can only be improved if subcontractors are abolished Photo: Michael Gstettenbauer/imago
BERLIN taz | “A ban on subcontracting would be crucial,” said Jörg Cezanne on Tuesday evening in Berlin. The left-wing member of the Bundestag was speaking on a podium at the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation on the occasion of the presentation of the new study “Delivered,” for which journalists Jan Ole Arps and Nelli Tügel took an extensive look at the so- The so-called CEP industry – courier, express and parcel services – have thrown.
Cezanne summarized the conclusion of the investigation and the evening thus: The working conditions of the approximately 130,000 Amazon suppliersDHL Express and Co. can only be improved if they are directly employed by customers, subject to social security contributions and subcontractors are abolished.
Every resident of Germany receives approximately 40 parcels at home every year. The corona pandemic donated the sector is experiencing a boom. And that means more pressure on those who deliver the packages to customers. “Going up stairs, down stairs, up to 200 times a day. “This is the rhythm of the work that parcel deliverers do all day long, often more than ten hours, often six days a week,” Arps and Tügel write in the foreword.
If the suppliers do not meet the workload, they will lose their jobs with the subcontractor, Arps announced on stage on Tuesday evening. This is not possible during normal working hours; the delivery people – often men – often deliver the packages late in the evening.
You can only find out how long the working hours actually are in personal conversations with the employees, says Tina Morgenroth of the Honest Mobility Advice Center reported by the DGB. Although working hours can now be recorded automatically, they can still be manipulated: the scanners are only switched on when the cars leave the parcel warehouse site and are switched off once the last parcel has been delivered.
Lunch breaks are automatically deducted regardless of whether they are taken or not. Overtime is often not paid and payment is refused in the event of illness. Nevertheless, “Most people will accept the terms until they don’t get paid,” Morgenroth says. Only then did they seek support.
Why does this work? Because most delivery people come from (Eastern European) countries, speak little to no German and do not know their rights. And because without language skills and other bureaucratic obstacles they have no chance of finding another job.
The postal law that was reformed by the Bundestag in mid-June provides for minor improvements for drivers. It is intended to come into force in 2025. However, the FDP prevented a ban on subcontractors in the industry. According to Cezanne, it must therefore now be ensured that all drivers are employed by subcontractors and are subject to social security contributions.
Then it would also be easier to organize delivery workers in a union, adds study author Jan Ole Arps. Because there is no union strategy for the sector, which is fragmented into countless companies and subcontractors. That has to change: “I would like to see a subcontractor task force set up at Verdi.”