Kategorie: English

Conflicts at work and no idea what to do about it? You want to work less or stop working altogether? Your boss still owes you money? We support you!

Every second Sunday of the month, from 2 pm to 4 pm, we meet at the „Drop-in Point Against Labour Injustice“ at „Infoladen Wilhelmsburg“ (Fährstr. 48). There we make plans about how we can fight against bosses and the ever-present pressure to perform. We know: Just complaining at kitchen tables is not helping us. That’s why we organize ourselves and support each other. We do legal research, council each other and plan actions together.

In addition we prepare an input for each meeting regarding questions that affect many of us. Here are the dates, times and topics of the next three months:

10.06: „Drop-in Point against labour injustice“ + How do I keep a work diary and why is it a useful tool to defend yourself against rip-offs by bosses and bad treatment.

08.07.: „Drop-in Point against labour injustice“ + Legal input and practical advice on tips and shortages in the cash desk or in the warehouse. Can the boss just keep the tip and when can you be held liable for shortages?

12.08.: „Drop-in Point against labour injustice“ + Shift work. We want to investigate the effects  of shift work on health and society.

You find all previous tips and information on the following topics here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/AnlaufpunktgegenArbeitsunrechtHH/notes (Unfortunately only in German at the moment.)

The Drop-in point against labour injustice is organised by the FAU Hamburg, the Grupo de Acción Sindical Hamburg – GAS HH, the IWW Hamburg and us, Wilhelmsburg Solidarisch.

Rents in Wilhelmsburg are rising. Ten years ago, 6 euros per square meter was still customary – today it is 10 euros, and often even more in the Reiherstiegviertel. Many of us are in financial difficulties. Many of us face the threat of eviction from the district or even from the city. This is the political intention! The focus of the private Nordelbe GmbH is on profit. And for profit, everything seems to be allowed. We would like to inform you about the harassment of the Nordelbe, its background and how we defend ourselves against it.

155 EURO CONTRACT CONCLUSION FEE – 3 MONTH RENT DEPOSIT AT ONE GO – TEMPORARY SUBLEASE? NOT WITH US!

When concluding a rental agreement, Nordelbe charges 155 Euro as handling fee. That’s illegal, and you can get the money back. Pay the fee first, otherwise the Nordelbe may not be willing to let you the apartment. As soon as you have moved in, you can request the money back in writing from the Nordelbe.

The Nordelbe also requires the first warm rent and three cold rents as a deposit before handing over the keys. If you don’t have that kind of money in your account, don’t panic. You have the right to pay the deposit in three equal installments in three months. However, enforcing this right can be difficult. From our experience we know that Nordelbe will resist this. So, until there is no handover of the keys, we prefer to come to one of our meetings to discuss the procedure together.

In addition, the Nordelbe is trying to limit subletting to 6 months. No matter what Nordelbe claims, this limitation is invalid! Permission is automatically granted for an unlimited period of time. It also requires the identification card of the subtenant. However, it is sufficient if the main tenants state the name, date of birth and occupation of the subtenants.

All these practices of the Nodelbe are designed to make as much profit as possible. As long as living space has to yield profit and is not managed by us tenants, evictions, rising rents and moldy apartments will be on the agenda. If you don’t want to lose out, you can fight back together with us. Come to a meeting of Wilhelmsburg Solidarisch if you have problems with your landlord. Often a letter is enough to defend oneself against the illegal tricks. You can find sample letters here.

Rents in Wilhelmsburg are rising. Ten years ago, 6 euros per square meter was still customary – today it is 10 euros, and often even more in the Reiherstiegviertel. Many of us are in financial difficulties. Many of us face the threat of eviction from the district or even from the city. This is the political intention! The focus of the city-owned SAGA is on profit. And for profit, everything seems to be allowed. We would like to inform you about the harassment of the SAGA, its background and how we defend ourselves against it.

SUBLETTING ONLY AFTER INTERVIEW?
NOT WITH US!

Recently, SAGA has requested that subtenants get to know each other in a personal conversation. That is legally unnecessary! It is sufficient if the main tenants state the name, date of birth and occupation of the subtenants.

Why does SAGA do this? She wants to make sure the „right“ people move in. Only in March they were sentenced to 1,000 EURO compensation for rejecting a woman on account of her Turkish-sounding name. In court, SAGA made it clear that it wants to determine in which areas poor people or people with a foreign-sounding surname are allowed to move – and in which areas not.

It is obvious to us that eviction of the poor and racist discrimination are official policies of the city! After all, cheap apartments in Eppendorf will not be made available to us in return. On the contrary. Although demand is rising, we are seeing less and less affordable housing because almost all of it is being built for the better off.

We must defend ourselves against this! As long as living space has to yield profit and is not managed by us tenants, evictions, rising rents and moldy apartments will be on the agenda. If you don’t want to lose out, you can defend yourselves together with us. Come to a meeting of Wilhelmsburg Solidarisch if you have problems with your landlord. With us, a letter was enough to get the subletting approved without an interview. You can find the letter here. By the way: If you are not allowed to sublet, you may even be entitled to damages. We are happy to support you in this as well.

Hier ist die deutsche Version dieses Textes.
Aquí encuentras la versión española.

It’s Monday morning and the weekend is over. There’s the blues again – trouble at work, trouble with government agencies, trouble with the landlord. As strong as we feel at demonstrations or amongst our circle of friends, we often feel alone facing the troubles in everyday life. It seems to be the same for others, too: there’s the neighbour who seems to be nice but is always tired and harried from her job, or the friend who is facing a lawsuit for being unable to pay his bills. But more often than not, everybody is dealing with allegedly private, personal problems alone.

To counter this miserable condition with political action, for quite some time now some left-wing groups rely on self-organization in everyday struggles. Be it in their respective neighbourhoods or having a specific topic (e.g. renting and evictions or unemployment), people get together to exchange experiences and find solutions for the impositions of bureaucratic-capitalist normality. They organize themselves as those affected by the terror of labor, deportations or the craziness of government agencies. Bureaucracy is countered by clever joint political action, isolation with practical solidarity.

This open forum will discuss the current state and future perspectives of self-organization in everyday struggles in a (self-)critical way. We want to give some of the above mentioned groups an opportunity to talk about the questions that arise out of their political praxis: What strategic topics and problems are currently debated? When are the groups successful – and where do they fail? What do everyday struggles and self-organization have to do with the possibility of broader social transformation?

The following groups will be represented on the panel:
• BASTA! is counseling unemployed people and organize them for joint political action against „Jobcenters“.
• FAU Berlin successfully engages in grassroots union work.
• Oficina Precaria Berlin supports, counsels and organizes migrants facing problems with German government agencies and the German social system.
• Wilhelmsburg Solidarisch relies on self-organization and direct action where people are facing problems with landlords, government agencies and their bosses at work.

The event will be held in English. A simultaneous translation into German will be available.

Supported by the AStA of the Universität Hamburg and by the AStA of the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg.

Friday – 2/12 – 19.30
Rote Flora – Achidi-John-Platz 1