Relations of production in transition? Corporate strategies, labour and migration in the German meat industry

Work in the German meat industry has long been considered an area of particularly precarious and unprotected wage labor. The widespread system of establishing "site-based" subcontracting as a fixed component of production has brought a variety of problems for workers, especially in the slaughtering and processing sector: low wages, long working hours, a lack of labor protection, and an overall insecure contractual employment situation have characterized the situation in meat production in Germany for more than two decades. In addition to the untenable conditions faced by migrant workers, the meat industry was not a particularly prominent subject of social science research, especially critical research, for a long time. Apart from general trends and research interests, which were mainly focused on other industries such as the automotive or electronics industry, the meat industry was considered a difficult-to-access and anonymous "black box," about which little was known about its exact work organization, and it was also very difficult to obtain more information. This began to change in recent years, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, mass infections of workers in several factories of major meat companies, and protests. Working and employment conditions in the German meat industry, especially those of migrant workers, increasingly became a topic of public interest. This led to policy regulations: The "Occupational Safety and Health Inspection Act" ("Arbeitsschutzkontrollgesetz") provides for the prohibition of work contracts and a new regulation of temporary work in the meat industry, as well as increased controls of labor protection measures in Germany since 2021. The presentation will primarily focus on current developments in industrial relations and their organization since the "Occupational Safety and Health Inspection Act" of 2021. How do companies (e.g., management) deal with the new circumstances, and what does it mean for the workers? The goal is to stimulate an international debate on the role of labor, corporate strategies, and migration, using the example of the meat industry in Germany, and to generate new insights.