– Flying Tiger fires seven employees
The Flying Tiger branch at Bern train station is evicting seven employees, presumably because they demanded higher wages.
Published: April 24, 2024, 7:44 p.m
The Flying Tiger branch at Bern train station has been criticized.
Foto: Franziska Rothenbühler
The Danish retail chain Flying Tiger sells all kinds of affordable gift and design items. In addition to low prices, the company has recently also made a name for itself with low wages. The basic wage for sales staff is 19.66 francs per hour.
A year ago, employees at the branch in Bern Central Station demanded a wage increase, as the Unia union newspaper reported. Because the management of Flying Tiger Switzerland did not respond to the demands, employees contacted Unia, including Julian K. and Laura B. (names known to the editorial team). He started her job in 2020 and she started in 2021.
No wage increase despite inflation
At first, Julian K. was not dissatisfied with the working conditions. “But in the store we have adjusted the sales prices to inflation. However, there was no compensation for inflation in wages,” criticizes the 22-year-old.
After the two of them, along with other employees and Unia, submitted a letter to management in September 2023, Laura B. will no longer receive any shifts.
When the 25-year-old wanted to take on a shift in December due to a loss in the team, the branch manager wrote to her saying that she had been informed that she could not give Laura any shifts.
The Unia union sees the dismissals as unfair dismissal.
Foto: Franziska Rothenbühler
“Not giving undesirable employees any more shifts is tantamount to a gradual dismissal,” says Anna Meier from Unia. Employers would benefit from hourly shift work because they would have reserve staff on hand if needed.
Termination after confrontation
According to Julian K., he also receives fewer and fewer shifts – new employees have now been trained. That’s why seven employees, five of them union members, confronted the branch manager at the beginning of January.
Two days later they receive the notice of termination.
The positions of the two parties differ diametrically regarding what happened during the confrontation.
Confronted with the allegations, the company writes that in order to protect all affected employees it does not want to and cannot comment on the present case in detail. At the same time, Flying Tiger rejects the accusation that employees have experienced disadvantages because of their membership in a union.
According to Johanna Oppenheimer, Managing Director of Tiger Stores (Switzerland) AG, dismissals are never made lightly: “If it does happen, we strictly adhere to Swiss labor law.”
In the termination letters, Flying Tiger makes some drastic accusations against the dismissed employees, which in a correction describes them as unfounded and completely rejects them.
The employees were terminated “in due time on February 29, 2024”. However, they did not receive shifts in either January or February.
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Allow cookiesMore informationKaspar Keller is a freelance journalist. He is also studying “Master Multimedia Communication and Publishing” at the Bern University of the Arts. He has been writing regularly for Tamedia since 2023.More information@KasparKellerFranziska Rothenbühler is a photographer at the Fotopool BernMore information
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