THE LIDL CHAIN OF SUPERMARKETS
is well known to shoppers and employees in the UK. The activities of
the former East German secret police have also been detailed in several
books and films such as ‘Stasiland’ and the Oscar-winning ‘The Lives of
Others’. However there was no reason to link the two organisations
until a recent article published in the German magazine Stern. Drawing
on hundreds of pages of transcripts from private detectives, the
article contained observations such as ‘The relationship between Ms L
and Mr H should be investigated since they seem to have become close.
When Mr H counted up Ms L's takings he drew a little heart on the
receipt’. The reports routinely commented on employees’ private lives,
financial affairs and even frequency of trips to the lavatory. As well
as from detectives, information was gathered by matchbox-size hidden
cameras.
The regional government in Baden-Württemberg, where the company is
based, has launched an investigation into possible breaches of privacy
laws while the Ver.di trade union offered support to any worker who
prosecuted LIDL. ‘These are measures I ... have only ever seen in
totalitarian states’ said spokesperson Achim Neumann. Ver.di have
already compiled a ‘black book’ on the firm’s abuse of workers’
rights. LIDL have now agreed to make a ‘thank-you payment’ of
€300 to each spied-on employee. |
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