Unpaid Work? Reality in Czech State Forests

In 2009 and 2010 the companies Affumicata, Wood Servis Praha a PBM Union Jobs em-ployed hundreds of workers in tree planting and other forestry work. These workers were promised salaries ranging from 400 to 600 euros. Apart from not being paid for their work, they at times starved and were threatened by their bosses. “Nobody has ever deceived me in such a manner. This was a case of vulturism. I’m angry that they abused people in distress in times of economic crisis I could have never imagined that this could happen in the Czech Republic,“ says Mr. H. from central Slovakia who wishes to remain anonymous.

The aforementioned firms were subcontracted to do work for the Less & Forest s.r.o., which is one of the biggest forestry companies in the Czech Republic to be awarded public tenders from the State Forestry Agency of the Czech Republic, the Krkonoše National Park and oth-ers. The recruited forestry workers performed their jobs for a few weeks and even months working from ten to twelve hours per day. Often they received either no pay at all or only some deposits that were not always sufficient to buy enough food. There were cases when they threatened to stop working. Those who were persistent in getting their pay reported being threatened in case they filed a complaint with the police or contacted the media. The Vietnamese workers were persuaded to sign a “training contract” instead of a work contract. “Such conduct may be called labour exploitation. If there was violence, deceit or threats, it could be a case of human trafficking,” Petra Kutálková from La Strada Czech Republic com-ments on the case.

The workers contacted lawyers that have been able to engage in the case in the long run thanks to a grant from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “We strive to acquire at least a part of the unpaid wages and the punishment of the main organisers of this huge scam. We counted that only our seventy-four clients are owed more then a hundred thou-sand euros. However, there are hundreds of injured parties,” said one of the lawyers, Matouš Jíra. The companies also owe money to people and companies that provided accommodation, transport or food.

During the The Week of Forestry Workers we want to attract public attention to the fraudulent practices present in the employment of migrant workers in Czech forests; express our support for the forestry workers’ struggle to receive their unpaid wages; plead for faster investigations into allegations of fraud; and help to stop further exploitation of workers in Czech forests, workers who have been exploited by their employers for years and face further exploitation this year. The week is organised by the Initiative for the Rights of Migrant Workers and Initiative against Racism!