“I'm cold, the roof is not well closed, so there is a falling water. My fridge is empty and no longer works. And I'm always afraid. »» In a pouring rain, about forty kilometers north of Paris, on the survivor motorway area (Val-d'Oise), Brighton Jonasi does not dare to get out of his truck, this Friday, January 31, and can even start it anymore. Two days earlier, in the evening then in the night of January 29 to 30, four men in a van came to force him by force the card which serves him to pay for the petrol, the battery cut which allowed to trigger the vehicle and trailer he was carrying.
They told him to work for his company Slovak, Global transports, a subcontractor of the German group Hegelmann. In recent days in Europe, a dozen other Zimbabwe's original drivers have lived the same traumatic experience and three of them are still stuck in French motorways.
This is akin to reprisal measures follows the start of the strike of these employees. On the weekend of January 25 and 26, they stopped their trucks, claiming an improvement in their working conditions and insurance in the event of a health problem. Come to Europe with the promise of a salary of 1,500 euros monthly, “Or even 2,200 with bonuses” According to Brighton Jonasi, most only receive between 600 and 700 euros since October.
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Source: Lemonde