Polish employer deceives repressed workers from Belarus
“We came to work under the employment program for the repressed on April 10. At the end, we earned Zl900 each, taking into account that we did a lot of extra hours. Some 60 Tajiks had worked before us and left. We were promised to make the right calculations for our work and to increase the pay twofold. But the employer has not done it either for this month or for April. We have been simply deceived,” says Mikalaj, one of the Belarusian workers.
QUESTION: Zl900 is around $300. What was the scope of work for the Belarusians to make this money?
Mikalaj:”10-12 hours per day, including Saturdays.”
How many people came to work under this program?
Mikalaj: “There had to be 6 people, but only 4 came. Two left for home right away. We still hoped that the Poles would keep their word.”
What does the representative of the company JW Construction which the Belarusians worked for has to respond to this? Mr Mackievic talks:
“The Belarusians are employed in the construction…You know they do not make a lot of money yet. They are paid for the scope of their work, not per hours. They get paid the same rates as for the Poles. Those people who came here knew their conditions. We even created better conditions for them.”
What is an average pay the Polish workers get for the same job?
“Over Zl2000…”
Do you know why two workers left?
“One of them left because he made three times less the scope of work than the others. I don’t know why the second one left, because we offered him the position he wanted: architect’s assistant.”
Did the Belarusians who were supposed to do the painting work perform so badly indeed?
“We were forced to do spackling, plastering and scraping which makes 2/3 of the complete scope of work. Those jobs were not included in the pay rates. Actually, we are doing it free of charge. If we did the painting only, we would make not even $1000 but $2000-3000. We have the biggest day-work output. Tajiks had to make around 60-70 sq. m., while Uzbeks had to make around 100 sq. m. Two of us made 900 sq. m.,” Mikalaj said.
Before agreeing for this employment, Mikalaj and Viktar – the Belarusian – asked the employers how much money they were going to be paid. According to Mikalaj, here is what Mr Mackievic told them:
“He said that everything depended on the way we were going to work, but assured us that we would get at least $500 or more per month.”
Mackievic: “Our idea was to invite the Belarusians for internships so that they could look around and see our conditions, while we could check their performance. We showed them all the conditions. After all, they were here and agreed to come and work. Given that they were on internship trying to get familiarized with the construction, we gave them a bonus of $200.”
Here is Mikalaj’s version:
“When we went there in winter for internship, we were told that they were not able to pay us for work, because it was internship. Apparently, they started deceiving us back then. There was no internship. We were simply working for the whole month.”
The Belarusians signed a one-year contract but did not get their copy into the hands. The employers would not give them the signed contract citing the need to get a signature from the bosses. When the pay problem arose, they promised to review the contract but never did. As a result, the Belarusians ended up without any contract in order to defend their rights.
Mikalaj: “We don’t have the contracts in our hands.”
Talking to the European Radio for Belarus, Mr Mackievic assured that the copies of the contracts were handed down to the Belarusian workers.
The Committee to Help the Repressed in Belarus, which organized this employment in Poland, commented on this situation in the following way:
“This is of course a very unpleasant situation for us. We are aware of this situation. We have refused from the services of this firm and will not be sending people there.”
What can you advise to these people to do now?
“Firstly, they can refuse from the contract and leave. It is necessary for them to talk direct to the firm’s director with whom they signed their contracts. Unfortunately, we cannot do and will not be able to do anything from our side.”
Photo by www.kp.belkp.by
