Dusseldorf, San Francisco The new Twitter owner Elon Musk announced mass layoffs just a few days after the takeover: he cut every second job at the online service without any announcement, further layoffs soon followed. However, this drastic cut is likely to have legal repercussions – also in this country.
Several employees of Twitter Deutschland GmbH joined the Verdi service union after the announcement of the layoffs. According to Handelsblatt information, this now supports those affected in actions for protection against dismissal and in the establishment of a works council.
“I want to show how impossible I find it to deal with people,” said a Twitter employee, who lets himself be called Tom, in an interview with the Handelsblatt. “We fought for employee rights in Germany that shouldn’t be given up because American corporations have different ideas.”
Verdi was confident that the new members would have good prospects in labor law disputes. “Twitter probably thought it would be easier to announce the layoffs,” said Matthias von Fintel, who heads the media, journalism and film specialist group at the trade union, to the Handelsblatt. Twitter could not be reached for comment Monday.
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Tom also experienced how big the chaos on Twitter was recently. The first work orders were received just one day after the takeover at the end of October. On a Friday evening – Tom was at a concert – colleagues in the USA urged him to quickly get involved in new projects – even in the middle of the night. However, the projects did not last long.
cancellation without notice
Shortly thereafter, Twitter announced mass layoffs, and almost half of the then 7,500 employees received notice of termination by email at the beginning of November. Musk then gave the remaining workforce an ultimatum: only those who agreed to hard work with a lot of overtime could stay.
>> Read here: Elon Musk reactivates account: Trump can return to Twitter
Tom, whose identity is known to the Handelsblatt, was also hit. His access has been restricted. He was no longer able to log in to Slack, the central communication channel on Twitter. It was only a few hours later that he received an e-mail that his position “may” be affected by the layoffs. A written notice of termination arrived more than a week later.
Tom couldn’t work during this time – so he took the opportunity to find out about labor law. Soon after, he contacted the Verdi trade union.
Tom understands that big changes are needed. “Twitter has grown too much in recent years,” he says. Decisions were often made late because too many management levels were involved. “Everything went too slowly, Musk is right about that,” says the IT specialist. “But you should go into the process together.”
No severance pay in Germany?
There is resistance to Musk’s behavior in various places. In the US, employees have filed a class action lawsuit. The accusation: Twitter disregarded legal requirements – the WARN Act in California stipulates that mass layoffs must be announced 60 days in advance. The outcome of the process is open.
In the US, however, it is not only Twitter employees who are suing the company – employees of subcontractors have also filed a lawsuit. For a number of tasks, such as removing objectionable content, Twitter had employed thousands of professionals through contractors. They too were terminated at short notice. Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco court of competent jurisdiction. She expects thousands of former Twitter contractors to join.
According to Verdi, a little more than 30 people were employed at Twitter Deutschland GmbH – in sales, in development and in IT security. According to Verdi, “a large part” of them received the notice. The union is now advising them on protection against dismissal.
A core of the labor law proceedings: According to Verdi, Twitter has made group-wide commitments, for example for severance payments. However, there is no longer any mention of these conditions in the notices of termination – the union reports that nothing comparable is known in Germany.
At the same time, the former Twitter employees are trying to set up a works council. It is not clear where the process will lead, but it is possible that in a few weeks, when the preparatory work has been completed, there will not be many employees left in the GmbH. But it’s about “sending a signal to colleagues in other technology companies,” says trade union representatives from Fintel.
So far, trade unions have had a hard time in the IT industry. But if the Twitter employees succeed in asserting their interests, the union hopes that they could be a role model for the employees of other technology companies. “We see that the downsizing in large technology companies is changing attitudes,” says von Fintel.
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