The delivery drivers were informed by WhatsApp message that their company, KM Group, had gone bankrupt, leaving them without their July salary. The unions say that they have not received the necessary documentation to access unemployment benefits either.
Around a hundred Belgian delivery drivers who worked for him KM Groupsubcontractor Amazon in the eastern municipality of Flémalle, have been fired collectively via WhatsApp.
Drivers were informed by text message that the company had gone bankruptleaving them without July salary. They also say that have not received the necessary forms in order to request the dole.
“I haven’t had a salary for a month. How do I manage the bank loan at the end of the month and the money to pay the loan? If there is no income coming in, what do you do?” said one of the former employees of the KM Group, Michael Agirman.
“It’s difficult for us suddenly find ourselves with nothing and not knowing what to do,” said another former employee, Dejan Mohammed.
A sudden collective dismissal by WhatsApp, without a union meeting or dialogue
In a joint statement, the General Federation of Labor of Belgium (FGTB) and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC) They criticized the form when workers were fired and the uncertain economic situation in which they have remained.
“On July 31 we were informed of the bankruptcy of the company via WhatsApp message“declared Daniel Maratta, provincial secretary of UBT-FGTB.”There was no staff meeting or social dialoguejust a WhatsApp message.”
The unions claim that the bankruptcy of KM Group was presented after the American online sales giant Amazon will refuse to renegotiate the conditions of the contract.
Although KM Group should have immediately started bankruptcy proceedings in court, Maratta stated that the company’s balance sheet has not yet been officially presented.
He also said the union had sent laid-off workers to social assistance centers to request emergency aidbut it remains unclear whether such requests can be processed, as the form has not been delivered C4 necessary.
The C4 contains important information on accrued vacations, vacation pay and taxes and social security payments made. It is usually passed from the previous employer to the new employer or, in the event of dismissal, it is given directly to the employee.
According to the FGTB-UBT, KM Group has confirmed that does not have funds to pay those laid off the salaries they are owed.
“At the moment, we are trying to get the businessman to submit the admission for bankruptcy proceedings so that we can do it collectively. Otherwise, the only problem we will have, or at least the only way out, is that workers will have to go individually to court to try to recover their rights, and that it will take a long time“, declared Ludovic Moussebois, head of the Belgian union CSC Transcom.
Protest to draw attention to the case and the precariousness of the sector
The unions organized a Thursday morning demonstration in front of the warehouse Amazon in Flémalle, with which they hope to highlight their case and draw attention to working conditions in the delivery sector.
“We wanted sensitize people who buys things online on Amazon and other sites. Behind the user’s click there is a whole machinery in which workers sometimes work in unacceptable conditions,” explains the Provincial Secretary of UBT-FGTB, Daniel Maratta.
