The head of the union Ver. di has denounced criminal machinations when shipping parcels. "In the parcel delivery industry, some Mafia structures have established themselves," said Frank Bsirske the newspapers of the spark media group.
"Companies like Hermes engage companies, which in turn hire other companies, which then put people from Ukraine, from Moldova or from Belarus in the delivery vehicles," continued the Ver.di boss.
Many would have fake passports, Bsirske said. "There are paid hourly wages of 4.50 euros or 6 euros - and working hours of 12 or even 16 hours a day." The problem is growing, the more boome the industry of parcel delivery.
Bsirske calls on government and lawmakers to act. "Politicians must also introduce so-called subcontractor liability in the parcel sector," he said. "This means that the actual client is responsible for the correct working conditions for all subcontractors." So far, this only exists in the construction and meat industries.
In the German low-wage sector so-called worker strikes have established themselves in many sectors: informal collection points, where mostly foreign migrant workers are recruited as day laborers. They usually do heavy physical work, are paid well below the minimum wage and usually work black. (You will find out how this system works in detail in this report.)
The Federal Government sets in the fight against such structures mainly on the customs. It wants to equip it with additional staff and more competences, so that the authority can work harder against moonlighting.