Opinion: Foxes at Tönnies in charge of the hen house?

Things didn't have to go this way, but now the districts of Gütersloh and Warendorf in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are in lockdown. It's not just the kindergartens and schools that have been closed — bars, museums, gyms and cinemas have also been shuttered. Only two people from different households are allowed to meet in public. Once again, social ties in the region are withering.

Moreover, people from the region are being stigmatized in other parts of Germany. The states of Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have asked vacationers from the districts to return home. That comes as no surprise — more than 1,500 coronavirus infections in one relatively small area scares people. Those people don't really want to hear that the outbreak was concentrated within a population of workers from one particular plant, Tönnies meatpackers, and not the rest of the region.

Read more: 'Employees are not to blame' for coronavirus outbreaks

Timid state premier

Plausibly, many have speculated that infections can now be found not only inside the factory but outside its walls as well — with the neighbors of Tönnies workers, for example. New tests are being administered to get a picture of how far the virus may have spread.

In an effort to stop the spread, NRW State Premier Armin Laschet pulled the so-called emergency brake and ordered a lockdown. But it was far too late by then. And, as Laschet's Bavarian colleagues —who have maintained one of Germany's strictest lockdown regimes — say, his effort was not only too late; it was too soft as well. They complain that residents of the area can easily leave it without police keeping tabs on them. 

Laschet should have made a clear decision on the issue far sooner. Apparently he was bending too much to the interests of Gütersloh's major business players. He also proved himself to be too compliant when dealing with his coalition partner, the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP). For its part, the FDP seems to have kept its focus on ensuring the well-being of the region's businesses rather than its residents.

Armin Laschet — who is among Angela Merkel's prospective replacements when she steps down as chancellor — has certainly not used the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to showcase his leadership skills. Rather, he has done the opposite: He has hesitated, stumbled, and even gone so far as to blame Tönnies employees from Bulgaria and Romania for bringing the virus into the factory — without offering one piece of evidence to support the claim.

That shows just how out of touch this arrogant premier is: He seems to have no idea how miserly Tönnies is when it comes to paying its workers. Or that employees simply don't have the money to fly home for a long weekend, get infected and then bring the virus back to work with them.

Read more: Germany: Coronavirus exposes meat workers' plight

Slave labor

The truth of the matter is, most eastern or southern European workers are healthy when they arrive in Germany. Then they engage in slave labor for a pittance, as a Catholic priest told me. They are housed by so-called sub-contractors, in quarters that are filled beyond capacity. Living conditions in sub-contractors' houses, which are often either near collapse or so full of mold and mildew that workers can't avoid falling ill, are wretched.

This spring, a Romanian worker who had been with the company for years lost her eye while wielding her butcher's knife on the production line. The accident came after Tönnies decided to speed up the line. The increase in pace was meant to compensate for a shortage of workers due to coronavirus border closings that kept them from importing additional laborers.  

These are exactly the types of things state agencies are supposed to keep from happening. Instead of actively working to improve the working and living conditions foreign laborers must endure in Germany, state lawmakers — and some local residents — have shamefully chosen to try to pin the coronavirus outbreak on them.

Read more: How are new coronavirus hot spots being contained?

Open secret

That despicable behavior is compounded by the fact that everyone knows how miserable working conditions are in the German meatpacking industry: Over the years, this sorry state of affairs has been clearly documented in dozens of reports by unions or citizens' initiatives.

Still, in the past only a few upright people have taken up the mantle to do battle with the powerful industry and its political allies. But the current situation may in some ways be a blessing, because it has now become all but impossible to look away. Public pressure and voters' fears are forcing politicians to act.

That is also why this meat industry crisis will end differently from all the crises we've seen in the past. Even Tönnies has been forced to admit that things have to change. It is scandalous, however, that Tönnies and its managers — who are primarily responsible for the outbreak — are now portraying themselves as agents of change while at the same time desperately clinging to power.

To allow remorseless exploiters to sell themselves as leaders who care for their workers would be like putting the foxes in charge of the hen house. How much money does it actually take quiet one's conscience?

State Premier Laschet, you cannot allow this to happen. Do something. And do it quick.