On a German motorway rest area, thousands of kilometers from home, truck drivers have been camping in their trucks for ten weeks, in a bitter standoff with their Polish employer.

Mostly from Uzbekistan and Georgia – some from Turkey, Tajikistan and Ukraine – these approximately 80 men have not left the Gräfenhausen area, near Frankfurt, since July.

Their trucks with blue tarpaulins serve as bivouacs in which survival is organized. Last week, several people went on hunger strike for five days there, lying in the trailer.

“There was nothing else to do,” Roman Gujabidze, a 60-year-old Georgian truck driver, told AFP, describing this strike as “the last hope.”

The strikers claim they are not paid regularly — at a daily rate of around 80 euros — and are subjected to excessive working hours.

“I just want to receive the money owed to me,” Mr. Gujabidze, employed since September 2022 by the same Polish employer, explains through an interpreter.

One of his companions in misfortune, Fayzullo Nematov, says he despairs of being able to send the money owed to him to his wife, children and mother in Uzbekistan. “I’m the only one making money,” he explains.

Their work takes them away from their families for weeks, traveling between Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In total, they are claiming half a million euros in unpaid debts while their employer disputes any breach of its contractual obligations.

The drivers work for several subsidiaries of the Mazur transport group, which has a large fleet and major sponsors.

In a press release sent to AFP, the group ensures that all salaries were paid “on time” while a recent visit by the labor inspectorate “did not identify any irregularities in the payment of salaries “.

The company also denies allegations that it charges drivers undue fees to obtain visas or work referrals.

At the Gräfenhausen area, the truck drivers, of whom we usually hear little, affirm on the contrary that they are only demanding the decent salaries promised when they were hired.

They certainly regularly receive small allowances for their meals but not all of their pay, which they sometimes wait for months, according to them.

A strike of this duration is “unprecedented” in the history of European truck drivers, says Edwin Atema, who belongs to the Dutch FNV union representing truck drivers across Europe.

“For the drivers, it is very hard mentally and physically. They are totally exploited, they have no money, they cannot feed their children,” he explains to AFP.

The conflict over the German motorway area is symptomatic of the dysfunctions of road transport in Europe, according to him.

According to the unions that defend drivers, German car manufacturers or large supermarket chains have used the services of the Polish transporter, even if the company name does not always appear in the supply chain.

It is precisely this dilution of responsibilities that the unions are contesting.

Transporters’ customers “try to relieve themselves of their responsibilities” by hiding behind the company that employs the truckers, says Mr. Atema.

Sponsoring companies “have a responsibility towards everyone involved in the supply chain”, insists the German union Ver.di, the largest union in the services sector

“As long as the goods are transported, no one cares whether the truck drivers are exploited,” laments Mr. Atema.

The Polish company also assures that according to the contracts signed with the truck drivers, “each driver decides for himself how long he wants to work and when he takes his breaks”.

She adds: “some work for us continuously for several months, others only a few days a month.”

The truck drivers and employers reciprocally filed complaints against each other. Their grievances are currently in the hands of justice.

26/09/2023 10:10:36 – Gräfenhausen (Germany) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP