What is all this about?
The Heinrich Böll Foundation, affiliated with the German Green Party, is mandated with political education, as are all the political foundations. We organize debates, seminars, and conferences, issue publications, and use the Internet for background information and contributions to discussions from around the world.
Many events are hosted in our conference center in Berlin. Like most major event organizers, we use external service providers for seating arrangements, for conference technology, and for catering for our guests. This applies to cleaning services, reception, and technical facility management as well.
Precarious working conditions, rock-bottom wages? The facts
Our work is financed predominantly by taxpayers’ money. We are required to use it sparingly and economically, and indeed we do so. We are subject to the law applicable to public funding and procurement (Zuwendungs- und Vergaberecht), as are other institutions financed by the German federal government. We invite tenders for services and accept the most economical bid. Of course, we also champion the introduction of a compulsory minimum wage. But we cannot simply hire firms that pay the minimum wage called for by the Greens. However, we pay strict attention to their paying at least the collectively agreed wage rates (Tariflöhne). In some areas, the external workers even earn more than the agreed rates for civil service employees (TVöD).
Why do we work with external service providers?
The workload for conferences is uneven, depending on the number and size of our events. It makes sense to work with external service providers who serve a large number of customers and can offer their staff continual employment. All in all, this arrangement is more cost-effective. We strive to be a good employer and to offer our staff family-friendly work schedules, good working conditions, and fair pay. But at the same time, we want to use our funds most of all for our core mandate: political education. Spending more money on personnel and administration would come at the expense of our political education projects.
Have we fired staff members because they filed suit against us?
We emphatically reject this accusation! We did not terminate anyone. The contract with the service provider for event services ended on schedule as of July 31, 2013. We invited tenders again, and accepted one of the bids. The previous firm did not submit a bid this time around. The new firm pays wages according to iGZ, the collective wage agreement for temporary employment.
And why is the Heinrich Böll Foundation on trial?
Seven employees of the former company filed a lawsuit to determine that an employment contract with the Foundation existed since the collective wage agreement for civil service employees (TVöD) (which we apply) provides for higher hourly wages for workers in low-qualification positions than the collective wage agreement for temporary employment (iGZ). The questions to be decided were whether the deployment of the external workers was equivalent to a service contract or de facto amounted to their employment by the Foundation; from which date on this employment relationship existed, if relevant; and which type of work was performed in which pay category.
And what did the court decide?
On September 5, the Berlin Labor Court (Arbeitsgericht Berlin) granted the first claim to determine that an employment contract existed with the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The way in which the worker was deployed in the Foundation, the court found, amounted to temporary provision of labor, not an external service. However, the service provider lacked the license required for temporary provision of labor at that time. The employment contract between the worker and the service provider was thus automatically considered as concluded between the worker and the Foundation.
What are the consequences?
The Heinrich Böll Foundation has accepted the ruling in the first case. Thus, the worker has been an employee of the Heinrich Böll Foundation retroactively since April, 2011. The court has yet to decide about the extent of the contract and the wage classification. Until then, the employee will be deployed based on his previous average number of hours, roughly ten hours per month. As before, his job is to set up and put away tables and chairs in the Foundation’s conference and seminar rooms.
What is the current status concerning the other plaintiffs and cases?
In the other cases, the Heinrich Böll Foundation has accepted the existence of employment with the Foundation without a court ruling; only the extent of the contracts and the wage classifications are yet to be clarified in these cases as well.
Is the employee being paid?
Of course, the employee is being paid retroactively from the beginning of the contractual relationship.
Why is the Foundation not negotiating with the FAU?
The Foundation sees no reason to negotiate with the FAU. The conditions of the plaintiff’s employment contract with the Foundation that are disputed, such as number of hours and wage classification, will be considered by the responsible labor court.
What next?
The FAU’s campaign against outsourcing services and hiring-out of workers was also discussed by the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s members’ assembly on November 29 and 30, 2013. The assembly agreed that as a matter of principle, it is the duty of the Foundation to balance its core mandate, namely political education, with social and business requirements as well as the legal requirements concerning public funding (Zuwendungsrecht). The assembly resolved to continue the ongoing process of reviewing the Foundation’s policy with regard to services.
Press contact:
Ramona Simon
Press officer
Heinrich Böll Foundation
E simon@boell.de
T +49 30 285 34 202
Background information (PDF, chronologically)