For three years, Martin unsuccessfully tried to claim his unpaid wages. Even though both the court and the appointed bankruptcy trustee ruled in his favour, the company Falco Engineering Slovakia in Košice (in the Eastern part of Slovakia) did not send any money. At the end of 2023, he turned to us for help. We agreed on a joint course of action, and after taking the very first step, we saw results — just a few days later, the owed sum of €2,047.38 was transferred to his account.
UNPAID WAGES DESPITE COURT RULING
Martin worked from the 1st of May 2015 till the 31st of October 2022 for an engineering company, Falco Engineering Slovakia, based in Košice. In November of 2023, he contacted us saying that the company owed him a sum of €2,047.38 for the period between 1 May and 31 July 2020.
The company had been undergoing restructuring since 2020, and Martin’s outstanding amount had also been confirmed by the bankruptcy trustee. He was supposed to receive a total of €3,821.07 as early as March 2021, but he only received €1,773.69.
“I EXPECTED IT TO BE A PROTRACTED STRUGGLE, BUT IT WAS SOLVED RATHER QUICKLY”
Once we had learned about the issue, we discussed possible courses of action with Martin. First, however, we had to prepare a letter of demand containing the amount owed and an expected date of payment to Martin’s account. We agreed to hand over the letter together.
On Wednesday, 14 February 2024 we visited the company’s premises. At the reception we asked if we could meet the owner. We were told that he was not reachable. We therefore handed the letter to the doorman, who was supposed to inform the owner about our visit and give him the letter. To be sure, we have also sent the letter by e-mail and by post.
The owner responded the next day that he was unable to send the amount within 10 days, as was demanded in the letter.
The owner’s reaction:
Good afternoon,
We’ll try to process the payment as soon as possible, at the latest until 15.03.2024. I’ll try to do it sooner, but we are also dependent on our customers’ payments. Thank you for your understanding,
Cerevka
Martin already had experience with his former boss trying to postpone the payments. That’s why we agreed on the following reply, insisting on the original date:
Good afternoon,
We expect the transfer of outstanding payment to Martin’s account until 23rd of February 2024 at the latest.
Otherwise, we will take futher action.
Solidarity Worker’s Union PRIAMA AKCIA
(Slovak section of the International Workers’ Association)
Two days before the expected date Martin received the full amount.
We asked Martin how he perceived the dispute and why chose to take direct action:
„I’ve decided to contact Priama Akcia because I took part in some of its events. The method of recovering the amount owed seemed good to me from the beginning. All the steps that we agreed upon were certainly faster than court proceedings. I’m glad that I also had to take an active part in the process, and I didn’t mind doing so. I expected it would be a protracted struggle, but it was solved rather quickly. I have received support from colleagues at my new job for not being passive about the debt, and when I needed to leave work early for the action, they had no problem with it.
In my former job, I tried to solve problems out loud and also tried to involve other colleagues. When the wages were late for some time, other dissatisfied co-workers spoke up as well. No one should give up their due wages because of a lying boss who has three cars parked in front of his new house. During the actions, I learned that solidarity is a powerful and necessary tool that all of us can wield.“
Another positive outcome of Martin’s success was that his former co-workers contacted us when they learned about it and wanted to start a dispute. Although the attempt was unfortunately dropped, it was still a valuable experience and it demonstrated our ability to solve workplace related problems not only in Bratislava but in other regions as well.
CONCLUSION
This dispute shows that even in cases where the court ruling orders the company within restructuring to pay the workers their due wages, it does not necessarily mean that they will receive the money. Martin waited for three years without success, but once he joined us in a direct action approach, he received the money within a week.
Priama Akcia union