MEP Cristian Terhes expressed shock that Roland Jost severely abused and discriminated against tens of Romaian truck drivers

Author:

Roxana Popa, Redactor

Published: 24/10/2023 13:49

Sursa foto: 4media.info

MEP Cristian Terhes expressed shock that Roland Jost, head of one of biggest Belgian transport companies, severely abused and discriminated against tens of Romanian truck drivers.

Romanian member of the European Parliament Cristian Terhes was shocked to find out that tens of Romanian truck drivers working in Belgium for the Jost Group were severely abused and exploited, and the authorities did nothing that the back pay of these victims be paid. This, despite the fact that Jost Group already settled in October 2022 with the Belgian authorities to pay a fine of 30 million euros for the violation of social rules regarding its employees. Roland Jost, the founder of the company, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and a fine of 4.8 million Euros in January 2023 for a similar case against his company.

The abusive situation was revealed to MEP Terhes after he met with 5 out of 15 truck drivers in his office that have filed a class action against their former employer Jost Group on grounds of exploitation, discrimination practices and unfair pay.

Firstly, the drivers complained about the fact that many extra hours that they worked during the week were not taken into consideration when the company calculated their pay.

For example, each month they worked tens of extra hours, which should have been paid at 150% or even 200% on weekends. Instead, the drivers alleged that Jost Group had falsified their paychecks by labelling those extra hours as "recuperation" time, as if they would have taken days off the earlier month, which was never the case. As a result, between 2013-2018, each driver was paid, on average, around 800 euros less a month than what he deserved.

"Considering just these 15 Romanian drivers alone, by robbing them of their fair and just salaries, Jost Group was able to ‘save’ at least 250.000 euros a year in salary and correlative tax payments to the State, which is simply outrageous and unacceptable. If the Belgium authorities are not corrupt and in the pocket of Roland Jost, these human rights violations and severe crimes must be seriously investigated", MEP Terhes said.

Secondly, the drivers complained about a breach of contract, as they worked as distribution drivers being also required to load and unload the trucks according to the instructions given by Jost Group, all while the company refused to reimburse them for this work, counting the time spent for this work as "availability time", which is an illegal practice.

Thirdly, the drivers claimed that they were repeatedly compelled and threatened to sign falsified pay slips, otherwise they would be fired.

Lastly, it was claimed that Jost Group has tampered with the personal tachograph driver cards that recorded all the information related to the vehicle and driver, including the exact amount of time of performed worked, action which is criminalised by the Belgian law. This case also reached a criminal prosecutor, who decided not to open a formal criminal investigation.

Even though the drivers complained to the responsible Work Inspection (SPF Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale), the Belgian authority seemed to want to stall the case and took more than 2 years to even come with a sort of report, and this only after receiving several subsequent complaints from the drivers for its non-action. The case is now set for its final hearing at the Liege Court of Appeal on the 25 October 2023.

At the beginning of 2022, the same Roland Jost reached a deal with the Belgian state for the payment of 30 million euros owed in taxes for more than 1000 workers employed from Eastern Europe. The criminal file against the company "even included charges of criminal organisation, human trafficking and money laundering", Trans.info reported.

"The fraud, abuse, and violation of human rights in this case might be of incredible proportions, considering the fact that Jost Group employs 3600 people, including hundreds of Romanian and foreign drivers. All these workers have the same rights as any other driver in Belgium, which is why such abusive behavior cannot and must not be protected by the Belgium authorities", MEP Terhes concluded.