On 23 May, workers at WISAG Cleaning Service protested outside the company’s headquarters in Senningerberg because they had not been paid properly for several months.

The reason: new software introduced by the company’s management in January. Since then, many of the 1,700 workers at Wisag have been going through a real ordeal: non-payment of wages, wages that have been halved or tripled, wages that have been paid late, not to mention cases in which the company has demanded money from workers outright, huge errors on tax cards, with regard to holidays, parental leave, the health fund, occupational reclassifications, and so on.

Despite numerous efforts and interventions by the staff delegation and the OGBL, the management of Wisag Cleaning Service did nothing to respond to the employees’ grievances. It was only when the management became aware of the organization of the protest picket that it finally invited the delegation to meet with it… but only to ask it to cancel the picket. The unions were also invited to meet management, but only to be told that the planned action was not good for the company’s image or for social dialogue. The OGBL called on management to respect the collective agreement and the legislation in force, and to do everything possible to ensure that the workers received their correct wages and salaries as soon as possible.

After receiving no response from the management, the protest picket was held on 23 May in front of the headquarters of Wisag cleaning services.

The president of the workers’ delegation, Maria Das Dores Azeredo, her colleague and fellow delegate, Gorete Fernandes, and the central secretary of the cleaning workers’ union OGBL, Estelle Winter, denounced the workers’ financial difficulties and called on management to assume its responsibilities and respect the second part of the employment contracts signed by both parties. All the workers want is to be paid on time!

Following the picket on 23 May, there was virtually no reaction from management, which was once again only concerned about the company’s image.

The OGBL’s Cleaning union is demanding that management respect its employees, who work every day so that the company can line its pockets!

The OGBL has called for the payment of an exceptional bonus for all the financial inconveniences experienced by employees, as well as the payment of expenses paid by the employee, the payment of wages from the 10th of the month, the delivery of corrective pay slips since last January and a letter of apology to all employees!

The OGBL is also calling on the management of Wisag Cleaning Service to establish genuine and constructive social dialogue for the benefit of all employees.

The OGBL will be taking further action if the situation does not improve very soon.

The article was published in the “Aktuell” (3/2024)