But now nothing seems to stand in the way of a relaxed charter season. Kuhnle-Tours is expected to hire 24 temporary lock keepers at short notice to ensure that the six affected locks can be operated until 9 p.m. during the peak season.
The news that the operating times of some locks on the Mecklenburg Lake District and the Upper Havel Waterway were to be shortened during the high season of all times had unsettled and outraged many boaters. In order to prevent long traffic jams or even the closure of the entire Müritz-Havel waterway between Berlin and Müritz, the charter company Kuhnle-Tours decided to take action itself: Last week, it advertised vacancies for unskilled labourers to operate the six locks at Mirow, Diemitz, Canow, Strasen, Wesenberg and Steinhavel. And with success. The new temporary lock keepers are to be trained from Monday and will fill the second shift in lock operations from 17 June to ensure longer lock operating times.
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Temporary staff to cover the evening hours
The responsible authority, the Waterways and Shipping Office, only has staff for regular operations from 9 am to 6 pm. "If the lock closes at 6 p.m., many people can no longer get through and have to spend the night in front of it," says Dagmar Rockel-Kuhnle from Kuhnle-Tours. Over time, a huge clog would form that can no longer be cleared because more boats arrive every day. In the job advertisement for the Summer job lock keeper from Thursday last week (30 May) therefore states that the second shift should be covered from 3.30 pm to 9 pm. "From 7 a.m. to 4.15 p.m., a WSA lock attendant will be there. The handover then takes place during the overlap time. So we support the WSA," explains Dagmar Rockel-Kuhnle. The aim is to employ four temporary lock keepers for each of the six locks with different hourly quotas; a lock keeper who takes on three to six shifts a week and three other temporary staff who work an afternoon shift on one, two or three days.
Enough applicants, too much bureaucracy
By Monday (3 June), the charter company had already received over 20 applications. The shifts had been advertised twice beforehand by the WSA, but no positions had been advertised for which lock keepers could have applied directly. Only companies that were to provide lock keepers had been approached and no company had applied. The WSA had previously tried in vain to obtain additional jobs for the locks, but this had not been authorised by the superior authority. According to Dagmar Rockel-Kuhnle, this is incomprehensible: "We have been seeing reduced operating hours due to a lack of staff for over three years and it is getting worse every year. It's not the fault of the local authorities, who have done a lot in the past to still be there for boaters, but of the official superstructure."
Then suddenly movement
And suddenly everything happens very quickly and unbureaucratically: in the coming week, the applicants will be trained at the six locks. The future lock operators will receive one day of theory lessons and will then be trained for two days at their respective lock by the lock personnel of the Havel-Oder Waterways and Shipping Office, with the training period being paid for by the charter company Kuhnle-Tours. If the WSA is satisfied with the level of training, the locks will then go into regular high season operation from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. from 17 June. The part-time lock keepers should be working until 31 August.
The locks affected are among the most frequently used locks in Germany. The economic impact of shortened operating times and the disruption to water tourism would be enormous. But it's not just about tourism, explains Rockel-Kuhnle. "Here in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and also in Brandenburg, it's very rural. The only thing we really have here for leisure is boating. We also do this for our employees and neighbours to maintain the quality of life in rural areas. That is often overlooked. It's also about the people who live here and want to go fishing after work or go waterskiing on a Sunday afternoon."
Jill Grigoleit
Editor Travel
