🚃🎧#463: BVG STRIKE!!!, greedy subletting, NI broke
Don't even think about using salt to melt that ice
Hey 20 Percent!
I had a one-man show in Mannheim last night and my daugther and I were standing backstage about 45 minutes before the show.
“It’s early and it’s already filling up,” my daughter said. “You can really tell it’s a German audience.”
I was a bit in my head so I looked at her with empty eyes.
“… because they have to be here on time?” she said in that condescending tone kids reserve for their parents. I’m still laughing at the whole situation as well as her joke.
Unfortunately, the German train I’m on now is over an hour late and it’s likely to get later. But the gig was a nice start into the weekend — hope you have a nice one too.
Andrew
🎙️Our latest podcast is out. I don’t think the terrorist Volcano Group is more than one person and Maurice tells us about his walk in Tiergarten.
NO BVG ON MONDAY
I may have not immediately understood my daughter but for once I’m sort of understanding the management side in a labor argument: Union Verdi will strike public transport provider BVG Monday, meaning only some buses as well as the S-Bahn will be running (no trams, U-Bahns or most buses) as workers demand a 35-hour week (down from 36.5 - 37.5 hours) and €500 more in vacation bonuses, according to the Morgenpost. BVG is threatening legal action as the move will hit commuters at an inopportune time and cause double havoc — trams were already limited this week by frozen overhead power cables and if the trains don’t run for a day, the cables will again freeze. Just assume there will be no yellow-colored public transport Monday and plan accordingly.
Don’t be a greedy schmuck
And what I’m also starting to understand is that German courts and officials are (finally) becoming more tenant-friendly. The country’s top court Wednesday ruled it’s illegal to make a profit when subletting your apartment, snubbing what likely is a cottage industry renting and then subletting flats at exorbinant prices, according to Tagesspiegel. A dude in Charlottenburg sublet his 65sqm flat for €962/month while he was abroad for work — he paid €460 and justified the unreal rent by saying he left all his sh*t in there for the subtenant. His landlord kicked him (and presumably his subtenant) out and the guy had the gall to sue. The court said the landlord was right to evict the greedy tenant. Politicians are also making noise about new laws to prohibit jacking up prices for short-term and/or furnished rentals — small improvements in a dysfunctional system.
NI insolvent - ☹️
And as a former financial journalist I understand far too well what’s happening with beleagured Berlin music software company Native Instruments, which has filed for protection from creditors (aka insolvency), according to CDM. NI was one of the first tech companies with a name in Berlin and emerged along with our clubbing/DJ scene in the 00s. They were bought by financial investor Francisco Partners in 2021 and the investor used the company to borrow money and buy more music companies — NI now can’t repay that debt. The insolvency will allow them to unload that debt and … get bought by yet another financial investor. What this means for employees? No one knows yet but Francisco Partners doesn’t want the company to disappear, just the loans.
Unemployment up (also ☹️)
We’re doing business news now? Unemployment rose in January to 10.7% in Berlin from 10.1% in December, according to RBB24. Experts always expect an increase at the start of the year because of expiring contracts and Christmas-related seasonal employment but officials at the unemployment office said the jump was unexpectedly strong.
🍺 🥨 Germany-wide news 🥨 🍺
🤡 Carnival float-maker on trail in absentia in Russia
👴 Chancellor Merz thinks yer lazy
🤷♀️ Does Germany really want skilled immigrants?
Factoid
The use of melting agents, including salt, is forbidden in Berlin to protect the environment and groundwater, according to the Tagesspiegel. Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) the Liar® turned to social media this week to ask the Berlin parliament to pass legislation that would allow the use of melting agents in exceptional situations — Hamburg apparently has such a law. If they did pass a law, it wouldn’t be in place to help our current situation — it would take until at least next year. I’m not saying I’ve done it but dishwasher salt can be effective on particularly slippery spots near your building.
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🎙️The 20% Berlin Podcast on Spotify
Kai Wegner could get 300 firemen on ice chipping duty in critical spots and instantly win back credibility after tennisgate.
So if you sublet while you’re gone, what is a reasonable amount to charge? I mean when you sublet a furnished apartment, you factor in the fact that they are renting your belongings too.
I mean that guy charged too much, but ultimately why does the state always have to get involved? One person made an offer, the other one accepted, and they signed a contract.
If they make these vague laws, we’ll spend all the rest of our time (in that classic German way) splitting hairs over the interpretation of the law(s).