Legal dispute over Hellofresh works council goes to court

The Berlin-based mail order company is being sued by the Verdi trade union.

Hellofresh is said to have already resisted US trade union efforts in 2021. A conflict is now coming to a head in Berlin, which, according to start-up scene ends up in court. As delivery services such as Gorillas and Flink show, start-ups and works councils are a combination with some potential for conflict. However, while Lieferando employees were able to establish a works council on Thursday, the conflict at Berlin-based cooking box delivery company Hellofresh has intensified. Gründerszene writes, among other things, that the trade union Verdi is accusing the management of the Dax company of obstructing the establishment of a works council through intimidation and misleading information. For this reason, they have now applied to the labor court for the appointment of an election committee. The company denies the accusation, according to the Tagesspiegel. Verdi trade unionist Franziska Foullong considers the actions of the Hellofresh management to be a "disinformation campaign". The lawyers had misrepresented the tasks of the works council and informed the workforce about ways to thwart the election of the election committee. This was despite the fact that employees have always had the opportunity to elect a works council.

According to media reports, three employees had called for a works meeting of more than 1,000 Berlin employees on June 2 by means of notices and a circular email. The first step towards establishing a works council would have been to elect an election committee. An election committee oversees the planning and implementation of the works council election once it has been elected. A week later, the group planned an information event with Verdi officials.

At the same time, the management caused unrest. Gründerszene quoted a source in the Tagesspiegel newspaper, where co-founders Thomas Griesel and Dominik Richter had warned the workforce in several circular emails that the election of a works council was an important decision. The Tagesspiegel went on to write: "The question of whether or not a works council is formed and, if so, who is elected, should not be underestimated." The management had also commissioned Greenberg Traurig's legal team to organize its own information event. If true, the management's efforts were successful, as the election of the election committee on June 10 was unsuccessful, as more than 50% of the votes cast were either invalid or abstained.