Bith the strike by truck drivers of a Polish forwarding company on the Autobahn service area in Gräfenhausen in southern Hesse on the A5, 16 preliminary arrests were made on Friday. The owner of the truck, together with several security employees, tried to get into the trucks of the drivers who were on strike there.
Observers described the group as resembling a “paramilitary thugs” in their armored vehicles. A police spokeswoman said those arrested were the owner and his employees. You will now be accused in different participation of serious breach of the peace, coercion, threat, attempted dangerous bodily harm and disruption of a meeting. The strike at the service area is considered a gathering.
The approximately 50 long-distance drivers from the Polish company have been on strike at the service area for a few days. According to them, some of them have not been paid for months. They want to enforce their demand for fair pay and decent working conditions. They are also supported by trade unionists and associations.
Armored vehicle and with bulletproof vests
According to the police spokeswoman, the operation began on Good Friday around 11 a.m. A large number of officials had been brought together. These could have prevented clashes by threatening to use pepper spray and batons. The rest stop had to be closed. According to the police, no one was injured.
The owner of the truck and the security staff came with an armored vehicle and bulletproof vests, said Stefan Körzell, member of the executive DGB federal board. “Around eleven o’clock it was a very dangerous situation.” Körzell spoke of a “martial threat”. The owner not only brought the security people with him, but also substitute drivers in three small buses. They had said that they had been taken out of their own trucks at other rest areas during the night and taken to Gräfenhausen. The unions would continue to assist drivers and, in cooperation with a Polish labor law specialist, would examine drivers’ documents to assess the legal situation.
Strike at rest area: The owner of the vehicles wanted to gain access to the trucks with a group from a paid security service.
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Image: dpa
The strike had started at the southern Hessian service area because the truck drivers no longer wanted to accept their working conditions. They include Georgians, Uzbeks, people from the Caucasus and Central Asia, Nepal and the Philippines, all working for a Polish company. Some of them have been waiting for their money for months, they say.
A temporary lounge has been set up in one truck with beer benches and tables where the striking drivers can have a bite to eat or just sit down together. The truckers are not alone: trade unionists and associations from the area have donated food and drinks, Verdi flags are hanging on truck tarpaulins as a sign of solidarity. Dutchman Edwin Atema from the European Transport Workers’ Union has been chosen by the drivers as mediator. The employer initially did not respond to the request for comment. According to a Polish transport portal, the truck drivers in Gräfenhausen are not the only ones on strike. In Italy there should be another 30 drivers. According to a Polish branch newspaper, the company has more than 1000 drivers.
Atema explains the recent letter from the employers’ lawyer to the strikers. “It says that some drivers are standing here against their will and are being threatened,” he says. Murmuring arises. “We are here voluntarily. If you don’t want to go on strike, you can leave at any time,” says a man with a peaked cap. The employers are now proposing a payment of 1,000 euros and the return of the car, says Atema. After that, further negotiations might be offered. He looks around. “Do you want to go into that?” Shaking heads and defensive shouts are the answer.
The Hessian chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation, Michael Rudolph, who had also visited the strikers beforehand, said about the working conditions: “What we are experiencing here is unfortunately a bit of the sad reality in freight transport in Europe.” The legal situation is actually clear: ” The salary of the country in which the vehicle is driven applies.” Unfortunately, the reality is different. In addition, instead of a maximum of two weeks at a time, the drivers are often on the long-distance roads for weeks and months and sleep in their cars. According to their contracts, the drivers are probably bogus self-employed.
The applicable rules must be observed and better controlled, says Rudolph. He also demanded: “We want the tariff of the country in which unloading takes place.” In addition, clear rules are needed to ensure that violations of the minimum wage law in Germany can also be enforced and enforced against employers in Poland.
