Berlin – On Monday lunchtime dozens of black bicycles are upside down on the asphalt in front of the warehouse of the Gorillas express delivery service in the Kaiserkorso. The location’s couriers have been on strike here since Friday afternoon, as have the warehouses in Schöneberg and Wedding. Next to the entrance hang banners with their demands, they apply to the management of the start-up. The fact that the strikers turn the wheels a little later and push them back into the warehouse is not giving up, but the goal achieved for the day: the warehouse closes. At least for today.
The labor dispute at Gorillas has been going on since March of this year. With wild – that is, organized without a union call – strikes and protests on the street, on Twitter and Instagram, the company’s employees repeatedly go public with the desire for better working conditions. Employees from the “Gorillas Workers Collective” initiated and organized an election to prepare a works council.
The strike is triggered again by a dismissal
The company publicly emphasizes its support for the establishment of the works council. On the other hand, employees accuse management of blocking employee representation – for example by splitting the company into an “administrative” and an “operational” business. Last week the employees received new contracts, a copy is available in the Berliner Zeitung. In it, the company informs about the transfer of the employment relationship to a new GmbH called “Gorillas Operations Germany”.
On Friday, two managers of the company are also said to have appeared during the strikes in the Bergmannkiez – but: disguised as couriers. According to the Gorillas Workers Collective, the aim was to infiltrate the strike and prevent workers from further stoppages. The company contradicts this representation. It is “common for the management to get on their bikes and make deliveries.” An employee of the Bergmannkiez warehouse, on the other hand, said on Friday: She, too, has the CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) and the COO (Chief Operating Officer) initially for couriers held. “I think it was a PR move”.
The demands of the strikers have hardly changed since the summer: salaries should be paid on time, they want an hourly wage of 12.50 euros for all couriers. They want baskets on the wheels to take the load off the couriers’ backs. You want a phone number for Rider Support, the team that is supposed to take care of the couriers’ needs. At the moment it can only be reached by email.
As in the spring, the current strikes were mainly triggered by the fact that an employee was fired. “Without any warning,” says Danny, the affected courier. Usually there should be three warnings of misconduct before termination – after the probationary period has expired. Danny says he was with Gorillas for six months in the middle of September. So he was past the probationary period.
His resignation leads to some Indian workers joining the protests for the first time. So far he has held back, says one of these couriers who are protesting for the first time and who does not want to read his name in the newspaper. He’s still on probation. Most of them are too dependent on the income from part-time employment as delivery drivers. Risking one’s job with strikes was previously out of the question. But now it’s enough for him too. “What are you doing anyway?” He asks in the middle of the air above his head, probably speaking in the direction of his top bosses. In the warehouse there is no water in the kitchen, the toilets are dirty, the equipment is bad. He did not expect that from prosperous Germany.
According to the employees in the Bergmannkiez, a constant understaffing during delivery times is new. The Quinyx app has been regulating the shifts for a few months – they have become shorter, so that many of them have to work more days a week. “Sometimes I have to work my 24 hours a week in five shifts,” says Kurier Joey. “Nothing has changed. It will only get worse. “
.