Specifically, the union is demanding better conditions for working hours, bonuses, and vacation days. In addition, more trainees are to be taken on, special payments increased and a travel allowance introduced.
« We have asked the managing director for collective bargaining because there are no uniform regulations for payment and vacation days. « That’s why we want to increase the pressure with the warning strike, » Grundmann continued.
Hagenbeck’s managing director Dirk Albrecht makes it clear that negotiations with the union are not initially planned and cites legal ambiguity as the reason.
« Our lawyers are currently checking whether the union is responsible for us at all and whether the zoo is obliged to respond to the union’s demands and start negotiations, » Albrecht told the German Press Agency in Hamburg on Tuesday.
« Only when this is the case can we talk about content, » said the 73-year-old. The zoo will appeal to a labor court in this regard. « We’ll definitely do that because I want legal certainty. »
At the same time, Albrecht restricted that he saw no economic improvements for the zoo at the moment due to the rising costs and the loss of sales due to Corona.
The employees would have 30 days of vacation, would receive bonuses, and could collect plus and minus hours on a working time account. According to Albrecht, around 160 people currently work full or part-time in the zoo – from the cashier to administration to the animal keepers.
According to the information, more than half of them are organized in the union. According to IG Bau, the planned warning strike could certainly lead to disruptions in zoo operations in the middle of the holiday season.
« Visitors should therefore be patient and plan a little more time. » The necessary care for the animals will not be affected, confirmed the union and zoo director, Albrecht.
Zoo Hagenbeck is the only large private zoo in Germany. Carl Hagenbeck (1844-1913) opened it in May 1907 at its current location in Hamburg-Stellingen.
