Schlecker terminations: "Women let us down"
Schlecker headquarters: "The family does not let anything be heard."
© ImagoChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: On Thursday it was announced that there will be no transfer companies. Around 11,000 Schlecker employees must expect dismissals. How are you at the moment?
Karin Lübke *: We are very bad. We, the works councils and all employees have hoped until recently that the federal states will still approve the funds for the transfer companies. Unfortunately, the FDP did not want it like us and let its economics ministers vote against it. Of course this is a big blow for every employee who has already adjusted to the transfer company. We wanted this solution, especially for the older employees, to give them the opportunity to continue their education and prepare themselves for a new job. Now the whole theater starts all over again.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Are you mad at the politicians?
Karin Lübke: I'm terribly disappointed. It's not about the company Anton Schlecker being rescued. It's about giving 11,000 women a chance. Transfer companies were also set up at Opel or Nokia, which worked very well, but women let us down. I am not only angry at the FDP, which will feel the consequences of their decision at the latest at the next election. I also hoped for more from our Chancellor. Countless petitions and petition lists have been sent to her, but Angela Merkel has not even responded.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Has the Executive Committee ever approached the employees in any way?
Karin Lübke: No. We have a lot of contact with the insolvency administrator, but the Schlecker family does not let anything be heard from them. And frankly, after all these bad weeks you do not want to hear compassionate words anymore.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: It is now expected to take a legal action. Do you advise as a councilor to complain to your colleagues?
Karin Lübke: Personally, I can understand anyone who wants to complain, and I do not advise it. A lawsuit of course means a further financial burden for the Group, and is therefore dangerous for the not yet dismissed employees. Because if there is no money left, it will be difficult to find a new investor. On the other hand, it is understandable if the dismissed colleagues do not take this into account and now think for themselves. But we also have to wait and see how high the severance pay will be. The dismissals will be sent today. Maybe there are not as many complaints as feared.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Has your own business also been closed?
Karin Lübke: Yes, all shops in our village were closed. The employees were now first distributed to branches in other locations and often have to drive several miles. 60 percent of my colleagues are expected to be dismissed. For the others, the fear goes on, which is not necessarily better.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: So rather an end with terror than a horror without end?
Karin Lübke: Of course, both are terrible, but who is terminated, at least can be active, go to the employment office and reorientate. The rest of us are hanging in the air, shuttling between hope and worry and barely influencing anything ourselves. This is very grueling in the long run.
* Name changed by the editor
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: The layoffs were indeed after a strict social plan? is that fair in your opinion?
Karin Lübke: Yes, we have checked everything carefully and that has gone very well at least in my area.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Do you feel that you have done enough or should the protest have been greater?
Karin Lübke: Honestly, we let ourselves be lulled too much. We have too much confidence that the unions and the politicians will find a good solution for us. We should have demonstrated with more fighting spirit, maybe we should also go on strike. I would have wished for a little more motivation from the union.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Is it too late for that now?
Karin Lübke: I just heard from a works council yesterday that they want to go on a hunger strike, but I do not think that will do any good now.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: It is said that the job market for female sellers is currently very cheap? but with the condition that they are "mobile". How mobile are your colleagues?
Karin Lübke: I know many employees who do not have a car or even a driver's license. Especially in rural areas, it is very cumbersome and time-consuming to get by bus and train in the next places. It hardly pays off for the few badly paid working hours. Of course you can still move? but many older women will not want to do that anymore. An old tree with long roots is not easy to transplant.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How do the customers who still come to the remaining Schlecker stores react?
Karin Lübke: Many suffer with us and ask how it goes on. Especially in the smaller places, where there are no other drugstores and the shops are still well visited. But there were also bad scenes when stores were closed and the rest of the goods sold out. The people rushed into the store like the predators, threw things around and complained that the reduced goods were still too expensive. I do not want to experience that again. After so many years, the store was like a second home to me. When people trample and tear everything apart, that's psychoterror.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How do you personally look to the future? Do you want to remain works council?
Karin Lübke: Yes, I will definitely stay councilor and stand for election again. Although the last few weeks have been frustrating, I think that works councils are important and that there must always be some. As far as my future career is concerned, I can well imagine changing my focus if Schlecker does not continue. I am finished with the retail trade.
link Tip
Which Schlecker shops had to close down? Tagesschau.de has documented on a map of Germany where branches have been closed and which branches will continue to operate for the time being. Click here for the Schlecker card
