Category: News

Dear friends and comrades,

you’re reading the second participation newsletter of “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie”!

Report from the last Alliance meeting

We have good news – our alliance is growing! At the last meeting in Berlin from 10-12 January, there were about 30 new people with different backgrounds, many of whom want to become actively involved. In order to welcome the “newcomers” well, there was an introductory round on Friday evening, which was very well received. During the following days we discussed, listened, talked, decided and got to know each other a lot.

Join in!

Such a protest camp requires a lot of preparation! We are already many committed people, but we are also still dependent on further support in many places – and we are looking forward to seeing more groups and people who would like to join our alliance! For all new people there is of course a detailed introduction to the alliance process.

All those interested are cordially invited to our Alliance meetings:

• 14-16 February: Hamburg (see below for further information)
• 20-22 March: Kassel
• 17-19 April: Cologne / Bonn area
• 15-17 May: not yet determined

You can get involved in the most diverse tasks. For example…

• the working group Camp-Logistics is grateful for contacts to people with experience in light & sound engineering or with a truck driving licence;
• the working group Mobilisation is ready to support people in all kinds of areas in self-organised mobi events;
• the working group Program is happy about support in the preparation of the camp program;
• the working group Antirepression is currently still looking for people who want to prepare legal texts for activists or who want to organise legal support during the camp;
• and is the working group Finance is happy about solidarity events where money for the alliance is collected.

Even if you cannot yet imagine what tasks you might be able to do, just get in touch with us: mail@gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de!

Our next alliance meeting: 14-16 February in Hamburg

Our next alliance meeting will take place from 14-16 February in Hamburg! We are looking forward to seeing new faces who would like to join us in the preparations.

Here are the outline dates for the program of the meeting:

• Friday: For newcomers there will be an introduction at 7 pm to make it easier to get started. There will also be a joint dinner on Friday evening.
• Saturday: On Saturday the meeting starts at 9 am and goes on all day – with breaks, delicious food and a nice evening program.
• Sunday: Sunday the meeting ends at about 1 pm. Afterwards there will be lunch and if you want you can help cleaning up afterwards.

If you are interested, please register by mail and we will send you all further information! mail@gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de

Spread the Word

We are now also on social media:

• Mastodon: https://todon.nl/@GemeinsamGegenDieTierindustrie
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/GGTierindustrie
• Facebook: https://de-de.facebook.com/GemeinsamGegenDieTierindustrie/

Be invited to share our content on your channels!

Flyers, posters and logo

We now have a really nice logo as well as flyers and posters and would be very happy if you support us in distributing them! Just send us a mail with the desired amount of materials and your address to mail@gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de and we will send you a package soon. You will soon find digital versions on our homepage.

Info events and action trainings

If you want to mobilize in your cities and villages for the camp and the action and prepare well for the action, please invite us for a mobilization talk and/or an action training. Here you can find more information: https://gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.org/mobiveranstaltungen-und-aktionstraining-organisieren/

News about PHW

Regular critical publications show that we have chosen exactly the right target with the PHW Group!

Recent research by the Soko Tierschutz Association shows that despite promises and threats to the contrary to the contractual farms, nothing has changed in the terrible conditions in the fattening facilities of the PHW Group. Here is the video material: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG-VhzNcQD0. And here a report in rbb: https://www.rbb24.de/wirtschaft/beitrag/2020/01/gefluegelproduzent-wiesenhof-strafanzeige-gegen-landwirt-tierwoh.html

Last week a report on the exploitation of workers at PHW was published in the taz: “Forbidden employment in slaughterhouses: In Oldenburg two men are on trial who are said to have made millions with illegal Eastern European workers”. https://taz.de/Verbotene-Beschaeftigung-im-Schlachthof/!5653913/. In addition, here is a report on a lecture by Peter Kossen on temporary workers in the meat industry: https://www.kreiszeitung.de/lokales/diepholz/diepholz-ort28581/wegwerfmenschen-13443211.html

The NGO Germanwatch has also published a comprehensive study on human rights violations of the PHW Group: https://www.germanwatch.org/de/17692.

Dates

Here are some dates, where you can get to know us:

• 30 January, Hamburg: Hamburg Animal Rights Talks (https://www.facebook.com/events/174776040296446/)
• 31 January, Oldenburg: Panel discussion “Does the meat industry explode all human rights?” (https://linkes-buendnis-oldenburg.de/index.php/termine/53-sprengt-die-fleischindustrie-jegliche-menschenrechte.html)
• 11 February, Berlin: info event (https://www.facebook.com/events/525765721376571/)
• 14-16 February, Hamburg: alliance meeting (https://gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.org/)

In solidarity,
Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie

That was the title of the Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 15th, 2020

(https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/lebensmittel-menschenrechte-1.4758022).

The article presents a study recently published by Germanwatch and MISEREOR, which shows clear deficits in respecting human rights in the entire supply chain of food companies.

For the study, the two organizations took a close look at 15 large German companies from the poultry, milk, feed and agricultural chemicals sectors with regard to “Human rights due diligence in the agricultural sector”. The results are very indicative of a profit-oriented capitalist economy. Not a single one of the 15 companies fulfills the requirements of the UN guiding principles for business and human rights.

When selecting the companies to be examined, Germanwatch and MISEREOR concentrated on the most important sub-areas of German agriculture. This includes the production of animal products and the associated feed production, which represent the largest part of the agricultural production value in Germany (BLE 2018). In the field of meat production, the companies selected the 5 largest poultry meat producers, including the PHW group (Wiesenhof) with the following reasons.

From the 2020 Global Agriculture and Human Rights Report: German companies and politics put to the test p. 47:

“In the meat sector, the scope of the present survey only allowed a small selection of examinations. In the sense of a risk-oriented study, the following factors were decisive in choosing the poultry sector:

1.) The export share of poultry meat produced in Germany is around 50 percent (Thobe et al. 2019: 3) and is therefore the highest in comparison to the other meat sectors.
2.) For several years, reports on poultry meat exports to markets in the global south have been documenting human rights-relevant effects for small farmers (Maas et al. 2015, Mari 2017).
3.) In addition, reports from poultry meat production, slaughter and processing have been proving very problematic working conditions, especially for migrant workers (see box, p. 58f).
In addition, the exposure of poultry meat to antibiotic-resistant germs is higher than for other types of meat (BVL 2019: 52). This goes hand in hand with the fact that the health-related exposure of employees in the poultry industry is even higher than in other areas of meat production.

Overall, these criteria led to the present report in the meat sector addressing the five leading companies in the poultry industry. These are the PHW group, Rothkötter, the Sprehe group, Heidemark and Plukon. “

The German poultry meat producers in particular performed particularly poorly in the study. For example, none of the five companies are committed to respecting human rights. The PHW Group is only expected to do this by its suppliers.

According to the study, there are considerable human rights risks associated with poultry meat production:
For example, growing soy for animal feed often leads to land evictions and toxic pesticide use in South America. The massive use of antibiotics * in animal husbandry also increases demand in the antibiotic production countries of India and China. This also increases the risk of resistance. Exports of poultry parts from the EU threaten the economic survival of local producers in West Africa and endanger their livelihood. The experts also see deficits in Germany. For example, the working conditions in German slaughterhouses are sometimes inhumane.

The study on pages 58 and 59 provides a detailed report on labor and human rights violations in the Süd Oldenburg meat industry. Here the unemployed self-help Oldenburg (ALSO) documented terrifying conditions from their advisory work.

“Migrant workers have to live in run-down apartments that are crammed with usury rents with contract workers” (LCV 2018). The rent, which is often completely excessive, is usually deducted directly from the wages and in the event of termination, the workers also lose the roof over their heads (ALSO 2018: 8). ”

“Many workers work twelve hours a day, six days a week until they are completely exhausted.”

“As a rule, employment contracts in the meat industry are limited, often to the length of the trial period. Terminations are possible at short notice and for no reason. In addition, a large proportion of the employees are employed through contracts for work or on loan. “

Current legal proceedings show that human rights violations in the poultry industry and especially in the slaughtering and cutting factories are no exceptions. For example, a trial is currently taking place at the Oldenburg Regional Court in which two men are accused of employing foreign workers without a permit between 2007 and 2010 and thereby making profits in the millions. They are said to have operated a kind of intermediary between the meat processing company Wiesenhof in Lohne in Lower Saxony and probably several Bulgarian companies. The witnesses invited in the process speak of hourly wages of three to four euros.

Representatives of the “Oldenburger Geflügelspezialitäten GmbH & Co. KG”, better known under their brand name Wiesenhof, also sit in the courtroom. They are calling for the proceedings to be terminated, including by referring to the Federal Constitutional Court. This has not yet made a decision when asked whether the company has to pay the illegally obtained profit even in cases that have already expired.

Already in 2017, a process of illegal employment at the Wiesenhof subsidiary Geestland of over 900 workers took place at low wages. In the end, the two accused (Geestland managing director Norbert Deeken and the former Wiesenhof authorized officer accused of subsidies and Pro Work managing director Frank Diekmann) were acquitted by the Oldenburg district court. The allegation has been proven, but the deeds have already expired. Nevertheless, PHW / Wiesenhof has to pay the wage costs saved by the dumping wages to the group account to the state treasury. These are ten million euros that actually belong to the exploited workers and not to the state, which then subsidizes huge animal factories with this money.

Our demands:

We call for the end of exploitation of workers in the animal industry.
We want good and fair jobs! We therefore call for an immediate, solidary structural change program financed by the assets of the PHW Group and the entire animal industry for regions that were previously dominated by the animal industry. We demand expropriation of the industry and continuation under worker control. This goes hand in hand with a conversion of the factories into ecologically compatible and solidary plant production facilities under the self-administration of the workers.

* From the 2020 Global Agriculture and Human Rights Report: German companies and politics put to the test / Box 3: Antibiotic production without wastewater treatment as the cause of the spread of antibiotic resistance p. 57: “Worldwide, 73 percent of all antibiotics produced are used in intensive factory farming (Boeckel 2019: 1), around half of these valuable medicines in Germany. Some corporations such as B. the PHW Group, which also includes Wiesenhof and Lohmann Pharma, produce meat as well as veterinary and human pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics from purchased active ingredients (Lohmann Pharma 2019)”

Sources:
https://germanwatch.org/de/17697
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/lebensmittel-menschenrechte-1.4758022
https://taz.de/Wiesenhof/!t5025718/
https://taz.de/Prozess-gegen-Wiesenhof-Schlachterei/!5447904/
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Kossen-Brueder-beklagen-Schimmelzimmer-fuer-Arbeiter,kossen288.html
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Praelat-Kossen-fordert-Lobby-fuer-Arbeitsmigranten,kossen268.html
https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/panorama3/Wiesenhof-Das-Schicksal-der-Werkvertrag-und-Leiharbeiter,wiesenhof544.html
http://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Landgericht-spricht-Ex-Wiesenhof-Manager-frei,wiesenhof630.html

Another Investigation at Wiesenhof fattening factory and again the same
Pictures…

SOKO Tierschutz e.V. has documented images from October 2019 in one gigantic fattening factory of a Wiesenhof supplier in Königs Wusterhausen near Niederlehme. In this live over one Millions of chickens in about 40 halls, hidden in a forest.
The video material documents the conditions in this over several days and shows the catastrophic consequences for the animals in this exploitative system:

Dying animals, animals that don’t get to the water, carcasses crushed on the ground, carcasses on a doorknob and workers who go relentlessly through the animals causing stress and panic. Weak animals are killed by a broken neck.
SOKO Tierschutz e.V. already had informed the veterinary office on 05.12.2019.
They never got an answer.

Once again, the PHW group draws “consequences” by filing criminal charge against a farmer who is supposedly responsible for the documented Cruelty to animals.
By admitting individual misconduct, the leadership of the PHW Group repeatedly manages to distract from the everyday systematic exploitation of animals. At the same time, responsibility for what happens in the fattening farms is shifted to farmers dependent on PHW.

But the PHW group itself is responsible for the system’s inherent animal torture.
The conventional chicken fattening, which at Wiesenhof is about 95%,
provides that the animals in the shortest possible time gain a lot of weight in order to gain a maximum “slaughter weight”. That also means that it is accepted that the fattened animals, which within 38 days per day 60g or should gain more weight, cannot carry their own weight and collapse below. But that’s not all. The animals are denied all rights and basic needs such as scratching, exploring the environment, socializing, pecking the food, healthy care and above all self-determination and freedom. Because this does not fit the concept of chicken fattening to make money with the animals.

The chickens live on their own excrement because cleaning the fattening factories would be unprofitable. They are constantly exposed to stress. Because in the end up to 23 chickens have to share one square meter of space. The animals live in constant competition for food and space and suffer from painful diseases such as bone and muscle malformations and organ diseases as a result of the “turbo growth”.

With our campaign we demand: Abolition of the animal industry!
Closure of all plants of the PHW group!

We are calling for an agricultural change towards a solidary and ecological Production and organizational methods that are not at the expense of others takes place and is not oriented towards profit. This includes a construction stop of all animal production facilities in Germany and an immediate stop of the Feed imports from the global south.

Press Release:
20.01.2020 Märkische Allgemeine: Tierschützer filmen brutales Vorgehen im Hühnerstall

20.01.2020 rbb24: Wiesenhof stellt Strafanzeige gegen Brandenburger Landwirt

Dear friends and comrades!

On the weekend before last (10th-12th January) we had another alliance meeting. This time we met in Berlin and to our excitement many new people joined us! Together we discussed several points, made decisions and networked in the different working groups.

Here are the most important points:
– We have decided on the whole 8-day-period from 13th to 20th June 2020 for our camp. We will announce the exact action period within this period as soon as possible.
– Soon the first mobilization events will take place in different cities. When and where we will publish regularly on the website and here in the newsletter!
– Before the next meeting in Hamburg we want to decide on a logo so that flyers etc. can be printed
– we are looking forward to presenting it soon on the website and all further publications!
– During the meeting in Berlin, a new working group has also been networked, which will now take care of the design of the exciting camp program, which will take place alongside the planned mass action.
– Furthermore, since the last meeting, there is a working group Awareness, which is working out a concept to create a safer, less discriminating and more solidary space both at the meetings and during the camp.

Soon we will also be sending out our participation newsletter, in which we will report in more detail about the alliance and call for cooperation! Meanwhile here are the dates and cities for our next alliance meetings:
– 14-16 February: Hamburg
– 20-22 March: Kassel
– 17-19 April: likely Cologne / Bonn area
– 15-17 May: not yet determined

We look forward to seeing you at the next meetings and/or the action!

Love and Rage,
Alliance “Together Against the Animal Industry” (Ger. “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie”)

Dear comrades and friends,

here comes the first join-in newsletter of the alliance “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie”!

The Alliance “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie”

We, the alliance “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie”, are a cross-movement, supra-regional alliance that was founded in July 2019 as part of an action conference. Together we are calling for the end of the animal industry! We are convinced that we must take action ourselves to initiate a social process, since the corporations and the governments will not take the measures that we believe are necessary! We need an agricultural change towards a solidary and ecological production and organizational method that is not at the expense of others and is not geared to profit!

We have been holding regular alliance meetings in various cities since July. Most recently we met in Hannover at the end of November and discussed, planned and decided a lot. Among other things, we have decided as an alliance the name “Gemeinsam gegen die Tierindustrie” And a self-image. And recently we have a website that we will continue to expand from now on: https://gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de/

Preparations are also progressing with regard to our planned action: under the motto “PHW ade!” We will go from 13th to 20th June 2020 to Rechterfeld in Niedersachsen, where the PHW Group is based. PHW with its brands Wiesenhof, Bruzzzler and co. As the largest German poultry breeder and processor, is a central player in the German animal industry. In Rechterfeld there are many different and important production areas of PHW in a confined space: the main headquarters, a feed production, a large hatchery and several fattening factories!

Participate!

Preparing such a protest camp and a mass campaign naturally means a lot of work! We are a lot of committed people, but we still need some support in some places. Are you familiar with social media, would you like to hold information events, are you familiar with camp logistics or are you well networked in the Oldenburger Münsterland? Even if you still cannot really imagine which tasks you might like, but you simply have the time and strength to take part, then contact us and join us: mail (at) gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de!

You can find the appropriate PGP key for mail encryption here.

Our next alliance meeting: 10.-12. January in Berlin

Our next alliance meeting will take place from 10th to 12th January in Berlin! We look forward to new faces who want to advance the preparations with us.

Here is the basic data for the program of the meeting:
– Friday: For newcomers there is an introduction at 7 p.m. to make it easier to get started. There’s also a dinner together on Friday evening.
– Saturday: The meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday and lasts all day – with breaks, delicious food and a nice evening program.
– Sunday: The meeting ends at around 1 p.m. on Sunday. Afterwards there’s lunch and then we clean up together.

If you are interested, please register by email, then we will send you all further information to: mail (at) gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de

You can find the appropriate PGP key for mail encryption here.

News about PHW

As if there weren’t enough occasions to take action against PHW, we received the following message from the citizens’ initiative “KW stink’s” from Königs-Wusterhausen near Berlin:

Dear opponents of factory farming in Brandenburg,

In a nutshell: In November 2019, it was announced that Wiesenhof had again submitted an application to the State Environment Agency in Brandenburg to increase the capacity in the Wiesenhof slaughterhouse in Niederlehme (Königs Wusterhausen). The LfU had already approved the expansion to 160,000 animals in November of last year (2018). Now it’s about 230,000 animals per day (!).

The citizens’ initiative KW stink’s wants to prevent this, together with a whole network of supporters from animal rights initiatives, environmental organizations and individuals. However, the ongoing opposition to the first extension and litigation by an experienced lawyer poses a huge financial challenge for BI and the active people. BI cannot bear the costs for this alone. The prospects of stopping Wiesenhof in court are good. But only if sufficient donations now come together can BI, NABU Brandenburg and a lawyer continue the ongoing opposition proceedings and plan further steps.

More information about the campaign: https://www.kw-stinkts.de/

We stand in solidarity behind “KW stink’s” and all other citizens’ initiatives that defend themselves against PHW and the animal industry!

Our donation account

Since we are facing high costs for camp and action, we hope for a variety of support from the movement. You are welcome to transfer small or large amounts to us – thank you!

Konto: Spenden und Aktionen
Betreff: “PHW ade” (important!)
IBAN: DE29 5139 0000 0092 8818 06
BIC: VBMHDE5F
Geldinstitut: Volksbank Mittelhessen

Our newsletter

You can subscribe to our newsletter by writing an email to sympa@lists.riseup.net with the subject “subscribe aktionscamp-tierindustrie-2020”.

Events

Here are some dates we are organizing or where we are starting and where you can get to know us:

10th 12th January, Berlin: Alliance meeting (mail (at) gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de)

January 12th, Berlin: joint banner painting campaign for the demo We are fed up (mail (at) gemeinsam-gegen-die-tierindustrie.de)

January 14, Diepholz: Lecture by Pastor Kossen about working conditions in the animal industry, event series Climate and Sustainability Diepholz (https://agenda21diepholz.jimdo.com/)

January 18, Berlin: Demo We are fed up (https://wir-haben-es-satt.de)

January 25, Bochum: Animal Rights Day (https://www.facebook.com/tierbefreierbochum/)

best regards
Alliance “Together Against the Animal Industry”

In recent years there have been numerous actions against the slaughterhouses and fattening factories of the PHW group. In order not to forget our – young – history and to get in the mood for the camp and the mass action in June, we will gradually document a selection of actions on this page.

On May 19, 2014, activists of “Mastanlagen Widerstand” blocked the Wiesenhof slaughter factory in Möckern (Sachsen-Anhalt). There is a very nice short documentary for this action: