From the perspective of the Food-Gourmet-Gastronomy Union (NGG), the training and working conditions in hotels, restaurants and bakeries should be significantly improved. We need a “rethink and redirection,” said chairman Guido Zeitler of the German Press Agency. “It is a fatal signal that more than 40 percent of young people in the food trade often drop out of their training, and in the catering kitchens even one in two,” warned Zeitler before the NGG trade union day in Bremen, which begins this Monday.
The NGG boss called for a change of course. “It must finally become clear to employers and their associations that it takes significantly more today than before to attract young people to the wonderful work with guests, in the food trade or in the food industry.” The training and working conditions would have to be better in order to be able to keep up with other industries. “This is not just about money, but also and especially. Wages have to go up, working hours have to go down. Collective agreements have to apply to everyone.”
According to him, aspiring chefs and restaurant professionals experience firsthand the daily overload of their colleagues. “It’s no wonder that, given this perspective, far too many people are switching to other industries.” The gap that has to be filled by the remaining skilled workers will become even larger and the overload will increase. According to the NGG boss, many in the catering and hotel industries are increasingly relying on mini-jobbers to reduce the staff shortage. Customers clearly felt the bottlenecks, for example through shorter opening times, no lunch options and additional rest days. “The catering industry has long been on the service side,” said Zeitler.
Around 120 delegates from the Food, Pleasure and Restaurants Union are expected in Bremen for the union day from Monday to Friday. The motto of the congress is “Making a future together”. An important topic of the event is working conditions in the food industry and gastronomy. According to its own information, the NGG has around 200,000 members.
