We are a group of hostel workers, who are working together with FAU to find out average working conditions and reduce precarious working conditions. We want to organise with other hostel workers to collectively campaign for better conditions.

In our work at Amadeus Hostel we found ourselves with average low wage (0.65-4.55/hour), long working hours, and contracts that either didn’t exist, or didn’t reflect the work we did. We got fed up with the precariousness of our work, and decided to try and improve our situation. We organised a protest outside the hostel: around 80 people came, we gave out flyers to the hostel guests, and Amadeus Hostel was the subject of several negative news articles (see our blog, or click on the links below). Currently some of us are undergoing legal action about low wages, and in some cases, unfair dismissals.

We believe this is not an isolated case in Berlin, and that these same conditions are repeated through hostels across the city. The sector has a widespread problem of exploitation, as hostels rely on an influx of young people coming to Berlin from other countries, speaking little to no german, and not knowing their legal rights here. As a result of this, many are underpaid and overworkerd. We want to join with workers from other hostels here, in order to raise working conditions across the board.

We invite you to a meeting to share experiences with other hostel workers, discuss strategies that have previously been successful, and create a plan how to improve working conditions in our hostels.

Check out our Blog and send an email to hostelworkers@fau.org for more information.