They filter hatred from the net – and should be replaced by AI. Berlin employees take to the streets
On September 23, employees at Tikkok in Germany step into a four -day strike. The ver.di union announced this. According to their own statements, the employees react to the company’s refusal to engage in collective bargaining.
Recommendations of the editorial team
According to ver.di, Tiktok also plans the dissolution of the trust-and-safe department, which employs content moderator: inside. Their work is to be replaced by artificial intelligence and passed on to an external service company. According to ver.di, this affects around 150 employees at the Berlin location. Terminations also threatened in the non-German-speaking live department, said ver.di.
Requirements for the social collective agreement and maintenance of jobs
With the strike, the employees and their union want to express their demands, which Tikkok has not gave way since July 2025. Ver.di claims to be a social collective agreement with severance payments of three annual salaries and an extension of the notice periods to twelve months. The union also warns that the relocation to cheaper service providers: inside not only cost jobs, but also endangers the quality and safety of the platform.
“This argument is about the fundamental: We want Tech giant to take responsibility for the social consequences of artificial intelligence,” explains Lucas Kentel, deputy head of the media department at ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg notice by ver.di.
Ver.di throws Tikok intimidation
Ver.di had called for strikes in the past few months, including in July and early September 2025. Interrorded recently triggered the termination of an employee who was not employed in the department affected by the dissolution, but had solidarized and guessed with her college: inside. Ver.di now described this in his communication as a “clear attempt at intimidation and a clear case of Union Busting”. “The colleague, who took part in the strike, should be fired from a team with over 30 employees. The matter stinks to the sky, and we all consider the supposed business reasons to be very credible,” said Kathlen Eggerling, responsible union secretary for the media area in ver.di Berlin-Brandenburg.
Support from MPs
The tailwind for the strikes also comes from MPs. According to ver.di, Damiano Valgolio from the left and spokesman for work and business explained: “You have done the work, and if you think you no longer need you, throw you out to increase the profits. You pay the price for this policy and this business strategy. This happens in many locations and in many companies in Germany and worldwide. That is why your struggle is so important, and many look very closely.”
Sven Meyer from the SPD has also announced that it will take the topic to the House of Representatives. “We see the pattern everywhere in the platform economy-with Uber and others. These international tech companies take no responsibility, neither for their people nor for society. They come out, use and move further. This is exactly what shows again: shift here, relocation there. We cannot accept that is so important what you do-and thanks to you,” very, very many, “said Meyer at a strike on September 3. September.
Replaced by the AI: content moderator: inside the hatred
Those affected by the department resolution are so-called content moderator: inside. These are responsible for filtering Tikok content and deleting inappropriate. Therefore, they are exposed to every day, such as sexual violence, suicide and also terrorist propaganda. Your work is crucial for the fact that platforms may be operated legally at all, says ver.di.
According to ver.di, the outsourcing of their tasks of artificial intelligence is a double blow – because they trained the AI themselves. “Now they should be replaced. You do a system -relevant work without the Tikkok could hardly offer its services in Europe in accordance with the right. So it’s not just about individual fates.”
Many of those affected also have no German passport. A termination would also mean the loss of your residence status in Germany.
Leave the ETHICHE decisions of the AI?
In addition, the establishment of artificial intelligence for such tasks is simply negligent, according to ver.di. Content and ethical decisions, which are heavily context -dependent, could not be automated. Hate must be recognized and removed by humans as such, they say.
The conflict between Tikok company management and its employees is not only held on the street, but also in court. According to ver.di, Tiktok caused a judicial procedure to establish an arbitration board. The first court date took place on July 28th. The works council had already expected this procedure, but rejected the offers presented so far as inadequate, says ver.di. A follow -up date is scheduled for the end of August.