Employees at the Hamburg Tierpark Hagenbeck went on warning strike on Wednesday to demand better working conditions. The strike should last two hours, as the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU) announced. During the warning strike, around 30 to 40 employees gathered in front of the main entrance and lent their demands with posters such as "Regulated conditions for good animal care - collective agreement" or "Hagenbeck tariff-free? It's over now." Emphasis. According to observers, the warning strike had no effect on zoo visitors.
The union demands better conditions for working hours, bonuses and vacation days. In addition, more trainees are to be taken on, special payments increased and a travel allowance introduced. So far, however, the managing director has refused to sit down at a table with the union, IG-BAU regional manager André Grundmann had criticized before the warning strike.
Hagenbeck's managing director Dirk Albrecht has doubts as to whether the union is even responsible for the zoo and is currently having lawyers examine it. "Only when that is the case can we talk about content," said the 73-year-old. The zoo will appeal to a labor court in this connection. "We'll definitely do that because I want legal certainty."
Tierpark Hagenbeck is the only large private zoo in Germany. Carl Hagenbeck (1844-1913) opened it in May 1907 at its current location in Hamburg-Stellingen. At the time, the zoo was the first zoo in the world without a fence.
