Young Georgian Tornike's pants are threadbare and torn, but that's not due to the fashion's shredded look. The job as a long-distance driver, for which he gave up his job in a metalworking company almost four months ago, has so far turned out to be a loss-making business. "I've been paid 50 euros so far," the slim young man with the dark beard, whose smile looks a little shy, tells the German Press Agency. What did he live on during that time? "My family sent me money to help out."

For almost three weeks, almost 60 truck drivers, mainly from Georgia and Uzbekistan, have been waiting at the Gräfenhausen service area in southern Hesse on the A5, demanding the outstanding wages from their Polish client. They are supported not only by German and Dutch trade unionists and advisors from the "Fair Mobility" network. The Georgian and Uzbek consuls have already been there several times, and two representatives of the Georgian trade union association have also been there for a few days.

"Customers are multinational, large companies"

The driver's strike at the motorway service station has taken on an international dimension - not only because of the solidarity video by South Korean truck drivers that was distributed on social media. "In Tbilisi (Tbilisi), a rally was held in front of the Polish consulate general, which was also attended by the drivers' families," says Raisa Liparteliani, vice-president of the Georgian trade union federation. "We also organized a live stream here from the protest."

Together with the Dutch trade unionist Edwin Atema, Liparteliani is negotiating with the Polish freight forwarder on behalf of the drivers. She also tried to contact Polish trade unions. "But we haven't gotten an answer yet." For her, as a Georgian who sees her country's future in Europe, the way Georgian drivers are treated is disappointing. "I hope this practice has no future."

So far, the drivers have not received any money, nor has the employer provided any documents that can substantiate wage deductions, which have so far been completely non-transparent, says Anna Weirich, a consultant at "Faire Mobility". She refers to a law with the unwieldy name Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. This assigns the companies responsibility for their entire supply chain - even if this is often very opaque thanks to numerous subcontractors, this is also the case in this case. "The customers are multinational, large companies," says Weirich, who also sees these companies as responsible for paying the drivers.

"Equal pay for equal work in the same place"

The drivers in Gräfenhausen are getting a lot of attention thanks to their strike, but they are not an isolated case, emphasizes Weirich. "This is fundamentally a problem for the entire industry. It doesn't matter which parking lot they drive into - the drivers of trucks with Polish, Lithuanian or Romanian license plates receive the minimum wage in these countries." And this minimum wage is well below the German minimum wage. At the end of 2020, Poland had already failed before the European Court of Justice with a lawsuit against the Posting of Workers Directive, the principle of which is "Equal pay for the same work in the same place".

But the reality is not only different in Gräfenhausen. "None of these drivers ever worked in Poland," emphasizes Weirich. "They are brought here from the base in Poland in minibuses and drive in the West for months." They live almost continuously in their vehicles, many of the drivers have not seen their families for months.

In any case, Tornike imagined his job as a long-distance driver differently: working in Western Europe, earning good money, building a house in his local village at the foot of the Caucasus, having a good life, starting a family. These are dreams similar to what most drivers describe at the rest stop. They had understood the discussions with the Polish forwarding company that he would take care of working papers for Germany, Austria, Italy or other countries in the west.

"These are mafia methods"

The Polish entrepreneur has still not responded to requests for comment. Since he tried in vain with a security company to take possession of the truck on Good Friday, he has not been seen in Gräfenhausen. "To come up with such a command, those are mafia methods. That's when he showed his true face," says Atema. The police are now investigating the incident.

Gavron from Uzbekistan stands in front of his truck and tries to connect to a hotspot. At home in Samarkand are his wife and children, three and six years old. "I haven't seen her for three months," he says sadly. "Especially the little one can't understand that." He feels deceived by the Polish entrepreneur. "I've worked hard, I have nothing against hard work. But I also want the money that's due to me. A contract is a contract!"