Last summer, they held their first election rally here—at their “Square of Democracy” in front of Gate 60 at the Opel car plant in Rüsselsheim. Today, they’ve been here since 4 a.m. with two camper vans and ballot boxes in the parking lot. About 380 employees of the staffing agency Office People are called upon today to elect their first works council.
“It’s important that someone takes care of our problems,” says an older employee from Afghanistan, who is waiting by the camper van for the shift change at 1:30 p.m. “I’m going to vote for this man.” He points to his colleague Abdullah Quraischi, who, as an elected member of the election committee, is sitting inside by the ballot box, checking IDs, and explaining the voting process.
Abdullah has been here since 4 a.m., along with other colleagues. He joined IG Metall on his very first day about two years ago. He soon became an IG Metall shop steward at Office People. “A member of Opel’s works council approached me back then,” Abdullah recalls. “You’re walking around here and sorting out problems. Why don’t you become a shop steward?”
Now they’re electing their own works council at Office People. In addition to Abdullah (pictured above, second from the right), seven other male colleagues and one female colleague are running for office. About 380 temporary agency workers are eligible to vote. The works council election will continue until 10 p.m. tonight.
“Temporary workers feel ripped off”
There are plenty of issues they need to address. “Many colleagues feel ripped off,” says Abdullah.
Thanks to the strong commitment of the IG Metall works council members and shop stewards at Opel, they do earn more here than elsewhere: They receive a 1,900-euro supplement to their vacation and Christmas bonuses, a 600-euro inflation adjustment bonus, and—after just six weeks on the job—equal pay—that is, pay according to the metal industry collective bargaining agreement, 3,453 euros gross per month. In addition, 150 temporary workers have already been hired permanently. But the Opel works council can’t do anything about the unfair treatment by their direct employer, Office People, or about false promises and incorrect pay stubs. That’s why they’re now taking matters into their own hands.
“I’ve found errors in my pay stubs time and time again. And when I finally managed to reach someone at the office, they’d say, ‘Oh, looks like we forgot a day there,’” says an annoyed Wadah Gamma, who has been working here for two years and is one of the nine works council candidates at Office People. “More and more colleagues—many of whom don’t speak German very well—have come to me and said, ‘Wadah, can you check my pay stub?’ I almost always find something. Back home in Sudan, we’re used to this kind of thing. But in a democratic state governed by the rule of law like Germany?”
Election committee chair Abdullah Quraischi at the works council election in the camper van.
If you’re sick or on vacation, you lose money
What also annoys them: Many have part-time contracts—for about 120 hours a month—even though they work full shifts in Opel’s shift system, meaning over 150 hours, for which they are paid. But when they’re sick or on vacation, they earn less money.
“Yet we work the same hours and shifts. This injustice—it’s completely unacceptable,” says works council candidate Sadruddin Yousoufi (far right in the photo above), who has also been here since 4 a.m. In Afghanistan, he worked as an interpreter. That experience comes in handy here, too. “I explain to my coworkers how a union and a works council work,” Sadruddin reports. “If you speak their native language, you can connect with people better.”
The fear of being let go from Opel
Unlike many of their coworkers, the works council candidates have permanent employment contracts. They made sure of that when drawing up their list of candidates. But even they can be removed from Opel’s payroll at any time and assigned to another plant for less pay.
“Many people here are afraid,” explains election committee chair Isik Özgür—which literally translates from Turkish as “Light of Freedom.” “Our goal is for those on fixed-term contracts to stay and continue working at Opel.”
T-Money at Opel Now Also Available to Temporary Agency Workers
On election day, there’s more good news for temporary agency workers—the one-time “transformation bonus” (T-Geld) of 18.4 percent of monthly pay, which is normally only available to employees covered by the metalworkers’ collective bargaining agreement, is now also being offered exclusively at Opel in Rüsselsheim to temporary agency workers. That amounts to a good 600 euros gross in additional pay, thanks to the efforts of the IG Metall works council members at Opel.
All nine candidates elected
Vote counting finally begins at 10 p.m. Abdullah Quaraischi received the most votes, reports Daniel Bremm of IG Metall Darmstadt (photo below left). “Right behind him are the other two election committee members who have been actively involved from the start”: Isik Özgür (third from the right) and Mehrdad Farokhi Azgeh (to his right).
“They can’t just do whatever they want—and issue warnings or even deregister people who demand their rights,” Mehrdad makes clear. “We have to fight for our rights.”
Now they can. Next week, the new works council at Office People in Rüsselsheim will be formed.
