A trade union is an organisation that helps you as a worker to network and fight for better working conditions together with your colleagues. As a single person you are often "too small" or "too weak" to take on Lieferando. However, if you join forces with other colleagues you have a much better chance - because only together we are strong! If you’re a member, trade unions also offer you free legal advice and even provide you with a lawyer free of charge if you ever have to take Lieferando to court. This legal protection also includes social law! So, if you have problems with the employment agency (“Agentur für Arbeit”), health insurance or pension insurance, you are fully protected. Other important tasks of trade unions are negotiating collective agreements, advising their members or works councils and shaping the working and income conditions in their respective areas. Organising strikes to enforce workers' interests in collective disputes is a right of trade unions protected by the Basic Law, and only they are entitled to do so. Our trade union is the NGG, the trade union "Nahrung Genuss Gaststätten" (roughly: “Food - Enjoyment - Restaurants”). Apart from Lieferando, it is responsible for workers in restaurants, hotels, confectionery factories, the food industry and breweries. Well-known “sister” trade unions of the NGG are IG Metall or ver.di.

A collective agreement is an agreement that the trade union / collective bargaining commission concludes with an employer / employers' association. In this agreement, the working conditions of the workers in the respective company or sector are defined. Basically, we distinguish between a framework collective agreement and a collective agreement on pay. The framework agreement, which stipulates the essential working conditions such as recruitment, notice periods, number of holidays, overtime pay or allowances for Sundays and public holidays, usually runs for several years. The collective agreement on pay, on the other hand, has a much shorter term, which can last for example one year, but in some cases also two years or in exceptional cases even longer. The basic rule is that the negotiated pay must reflect the current economic situation and ensure a fair share in the company's success.

ATTENTION: In Germany, things like hourly pay or holiday entitlement can only be improved through collective agreements! Of course, there is also a statutory minimum wage, but this is set by the minimum wage commission (consisting of employer and trade union representatives) and represents the entire economy, but not Lieferando in particular. If you want to actively and self-determinedly improve your working conditions, there is no way around a collective agreement! Moreover, in Germany only trade unions are allowed to conclude collective agreements with employers!

The collective agreement commission discusses what should be included in the collective agreement, i.e. how high the hourly wage should be, how many days of holiday there should be, how much Christmas or holiday pay should be, etc. But the union cannot know exactly how things are in each individual company, they seek advice from workers in the respective companies. Therefore, a collective agreement commission consists partly of trade union employees who give advice and partly of workers from the company who express their wishes and ideas. Demands are worked out together.

• An hourly wage of at least 15 euros as a starting point
• 6 weeks paid holiday per year
• Christmas and holiday bonus
• Paid ride home from the last customer
• 50 cent mileage allowance for drivers
• Increase in guaranteed hours for regular overtime
• Sunday and holiday bonuses

By the way, these demands are not set in stone yet! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to submit them. Just contact gastgewerbe@ngg.net .

In collective agreement negotiations, the collective agreement commission negotiates the collective agreement with the employer. You will be actively involved (if you are an NGG member), we will always ask for your opinion and make sure that the negotiations are satisfactory for all of us. In the end, every negotiation results in a compromise, but this may require warning strikes or, as an extreme measure, an indefinite work stoppage (strike).

Basically, we distinguish between warning strikes and strikes of unlimited duration. A warning strike, as the name suggests, is intended to fire a warning shot and demand that the employer either at least starts to take part in negotiations at all or even accepts our demands. If collective agreement negotiations are declared to have failed, a ballot is held and, if the NGG members at Lieferando decide in favour, an indefinite strike may be started.  As an employee you can then stop working. This is the only way Lieferando can recognise how important we couriers are for the business and that nothing would work without us! According to the statutes of the NGG, the NGG members in the company will then receive strike pay, as Lieferando does not have to pay them if they do not work. That's another reason why it makes sense to be a union member, because only then are you financially and legally protected in the event of a strike! ATTENTION: In Germany, strikes can only be called by trade unions and only within the framework of collective bargaining! If you (and other colleagues) just go on strike like that, you will almost certainly be dismissed!

The best and easiest way to show your support is to sign our petition! It costs you nothing and is a strong sign of solidarity. If you give us your mobile phone number when you fill in the petition, we will be happy to contact you as soon as the negotiations get into the hot phase or we might even have to go on strike. Of course, we would be even happier if you directly became a member of the NGG. Because the more we are, the more successful we can negotiate. It makes a difference if some dozens of workers of a company take part in a (warning) strike or some hundreds or even thousands. Because "the union" is only as strong as we make it. And don't worry, Lieferando will not be notified that you have joined the union and you don't have to tell your supervisors about it - even if they ask you directly.

You can easily become a member online on the NGG website. It costs you 1% of your gross salary per month (so tips don't count). As our salary can vary a lot, just take the average of the last 12 months (or the number of months you already work at Lieferando).

If you have any further questions, please contact the NGG in your region or contact us directly at gastgewerbe@ngg.net.