Status: 04/05/2023 16:20
The Labor Court of Lüneburg has approved the immediate dismissal of the head of Amazon’s works council from Winsen/Luhe. According to the statement, the man committed a “serious violation of official duties.”
Amazon accuses the head of the works council, Detlev Börs, that private activity was called working time. In particular, we are talking about participation in the Day of German Works Councils in November 2022 in Bonn. According to the statement of the labor court, Detlev Börs came to the conference together with other members of the Winsen works council at the expense of Amazon. It is said that on one of the days of the conference, Burse did not attend the event and still considered it a working day. Amazon then fired the chairman of the works council on suspicion of fraud during working hours.
Did the chairman work remotely?
According to Detlev Börs, he worked for hours on the works council in a cafe in Dusseldorf and stayed with his ex-wife. As full-time chairman of the works council, he can also work remotely. Neither his employer nor the labor court listened to this argument. Burs can still appeal to the regional labor court.
A system of suspicious alliances
The ver.di trade union suspects that the system is behind the dismissal. In addition to the Amazon site in Winsen/Luhe, members of the works council are also fighting for their jobs in Achim and Wunstorf. According to a ver.di representative, unionized works council members were affected in all cases. Unionists suspect that Amazon wants to replace critical members of its works councils with loyal employees.
Amazon disagrees
At the request of NDR Lower Saxony, Amazon contradicts this representation. According to a company representative, works councils are “critical business partners”. The company also respects trade union rights. As for the dismissal of the chairman of the works council, they say that the same standards will apply to all employees.
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