Pracujesz na umowie śmieciowej? Możemy pomóc!
In October we organized 3 pickets at Impuls agency and a number of other informational actions, including meeting with workers, posters, etc. Impuls agency has not been paying workers on time. The problems with this agency have been going on over one year. Many people work a few months and when they see they will never get paid, just quit. Others who are desperate for a job, hang on for months, hoping to get their salaries. Now some workers are taking action to get what they are owed.
Instead of paying workers, Impuls has been busy trying to scare them and unionists who are supporting them. The lawyer for Impuls has been very busy, threatening with suits of 40,000 euros for writing about the situation. A worker who quit and was picketing the office was also threatened by the lawyers. Impuls also has complaint to the police on numerous occasions and accuse us of crimes.
Actions had some effects at some point, but not what we are aiming for. One worker received what he was owed. Another received a small part and was promised the rest. We of course do not believe these promises, but of course we understand that if somebody hasn't been paid for 6 months, they will even take 1 month salary just to have money to put food on the table. The worker in question was almost evicted from his flat a few weeks ago because of debt.
But more workers have joined in, hearing about the situation. Suits are filed in court. Another union, Sierpien 80, also has a couple of cases from this company and we agreed to support each other in this case.
The management of Impuls has been promising to meet us, but these promises are about the same as their promises to pay the workers. The lawyer from Impuls called to cancelled the scheduled talks with workers and the two unions (ZSP and Sierpien) and instead tried to intimidate one comrade over the phone, claiming that what we are doing is "illegal". As if paying people 80 euro cents an hour, giving them 250 hours of work a month and not paying them for months is any model of a law-abiding employer.
Given the latest actions of the firm, we will have to take more resolute direct action and step up the informational campaign. The issue is already in the national press. The bosses and lawyer of the company are complaining that workers are "telling lies about the company".