Gorilla employees blockade warehouse

50 Gorillas employees demonstrated against the dismissal of their colleague in a warehouse in Berlin-Mitte. They also demanded better working conditions.

On Wednesday, around 50 drivers went on strike at a Gorillas warehouse in Charlottenstraße in Berlin. In the evening, the employees also blocked the entrance to a second store in Torstraße. The employees shouted "We want Santiago back!", reports the Tagesspiegel. Santiago was a colleague who had been fired shortly before - allegedly for being late for a shift. This was reported on Twitter by the "Gorillas Workers Collective", who called for the strike. The managers of the warehouse then called the police. The officers did not break up the strike and the managers closed the warehouse shortly before 10 p.m., writes Tagesspiegel.

"I actually like working at Gorillas," one of the protesters told the Tagesspiegel. But there are grievances that the management does not care about. Employees are often dismissed during their probationary period. The bosses are primarily interested in expanding their company as quickly as possible and brush off any criticism. Deliveries were not possible on Wednesday. Even colleagues who were not on strike were unable to continue working because the catchment area was blocked. The "Gorillas Workers Collective" is also calling for strikes again today, Thursday.

Criticism of gorillas is growing. The authorities in the Berlin district of Pankow are also taking action with an administrative offense(Startbase reported). In the Pankow warehouse, the sidewalk is to be used for storage, and residents are also annoyed by the bicycles standing around. There are now complaints about gorillas in all Berlin districts. For example, the coronavirus rules are often not being observed or residents are reporting disturbances of the peace.