by EuroNews with AP
It’s published
The Germans are in Kebab Angst. They are worried that their most beloved street food (spicy and juicy kebabs from pita) will jump into every street corner in Germany, making it even more expensive and even worse that the country may be struggling with a national kebab shortage.
If these fears may sound exaggerated at first, they are not unfounded. Workers at one of Germany’s largest kebab factories are trapped in a fierce and continuous battle with employers over wages and working conditions.
For several weeks, workers at Birtat Meat World Se Factory in southwestern Germany repeatedly stopped production lines by going out on a “warning strike.”
Current salary is very different and has not been disclosed. According to the German press DPA, the food, beverages and catering unions that represent them have a clear payment method and that workers earn very different salaries for the same type of work.
Workers are also trying to organize collective contract agreements for all employees with the help of unions.
Immigrant workers
Many workers are immigrants from Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria. They spend long and harsh working days in factories close to freezing temperatures to keep the raw meat fresh.
On Wednesday, many workers left their jobs again, waving flags in front of the factory main gates, playing drums, histts, screaming for a higher salary and union contract.
German media reports that Birtat has not succumbed to any of the previous demand. The company did not respond immediately to the interview request.
Millions of consumers each month
Located in Marl, 30km north of Stuttgart, Bhatat has been grilling kebab skewers for over 30 years. The company says it is making ground beef, chicken, chicken or turkey kebab skewers that weigh up to 120 kilograms.
The worker cuts the meat, marinates it, and pushes a mass of raw produce into a long metal skewer. The meat is then shocked and delivered to restaurants across the country.
Birtat says it supplies thousands of kebab stands and fast food locations, reaching over 13 million consumers each month. Some restaurant owners worry that German favorite fast food snacks will actually become more expensive or even less if workers decide to go on a long-term strike.
Price rise
Germans have already complained that the cheap classic meat snacks that were sold for 2.50 euros about 20 years ago are too expensive, and most places are being charged at least 7 euros.
Halil Dumant was pondering the state of the kebab business as he was busy slicing the thin ground beef from Pergamon Dorner, a small eatery at Friedrichstrath Station in Berlin, where people lined up for lunch.
“It’s all become more and more difficult,” said the 68-year-old Turkish immigrant. “Produce is becoming more expensive and we are barely making any profits anymore.”
“But if we raise prices further, people won’t buy here anymore,” said Duman, who has worked at a kebab store in the German capital for over 30 years and sold classic kebab sandwiches for 7.50 euros.
History of German kebabs
For a long time, the Germans loved the kebab sandwich called the German döner. The word comes from the Turkish verb “donmek.” This means that when the meat spits and is browned and simmersed for hours on a thin slice of razor when it’s brown, it changes.
First brought to Berlin by Turkish immigrants in the 1970s, the grilled meat snacks are wrapped in pita bread with finely chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onions and various dressings, and are sold throughout Germany, from the Baltic Sea to the Bavarian Alps.
According to legend, Mahmut Aigun, a Turkish guest worker who invented the first döner sandwich in 1971, sold meat in pita bread dressed in yogurt dresses at a stand near the main train station of the West Berlin zoo.
Although around 2.9 million people with Turkish roots live in Germany, Döner Kebab Sandwich is so ubiquitous in the country that many foreign tourists typically consider German and don’t know about the past of snack immigration.
Nere Langfeld, a 22-year-old college student, had just finished his exams and was craving comfortable food, so he was coming to Pergamon Dorner.
She was waiting for her turn, but she had never heard of the labor dispute in Birtat, but she is sure she didn’t like the possibility of shortages or the prospect of rising prices.
“I live on a budget, but that’s the last thing I need,” she said. “Döner is an affordable meal that really fills your stomach. It should stay that way.”