Gräfenhausen
DGB: Polish company hired “thugs” to disrupt protests by truck drivers at rest stops
“We are on strike” is written on a truck at the Gräfenhausen rest area
© Sebastian Gollnow / DPA
During the strike by truck drivers of a Polish forwarding company on the Autobahn service station in Gräfenhausen in southern Hesse on the A5, 16 people were arrested on Friday in a confusing threat situation.
According to trade unionists, a Polish freight forwarding company hired a “paramilitary thugs” to disrupt a protest by truck drivers in Hesse.
Stefan Körzell from the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) spoke on Friday of a “martial threat”. The police in southern Hesse said that the Polish company owner had tried “accompanied by several people” to “forcefully gain access to the parked trucks”.
Thug squad in Gräfenhausen “presumably consisted of right-wing extremists”
Images published by the DGB on Twitter showed armored vehicles and men in military-style clothing. It was “presumably right-wing extremists,” said the trade union federation.
The owner of the truck and his security helpers are accused in different ways of serious breach of the peace, coercion, threats, attempted dangerous bodily harm and disruption of a meeting. The approximately 50 long-distance drivers from the Polish company, some of whom come from Uzbekistan, have been on strike at the service area for a few days. According to their information, some of them have not been paid their wages for months.
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According to the union, the striking drivers are supported by the DGB, local clubs and boards and the diocese of Mainz. DGB and the Hessian SPD condemned the actions of the forwarding agent. The rule of law should not put up with the fact that forwarders resort to vigilantism and want to gain access to the trucks with martial means, said SPD parliamentary group leader Günter Rudolph.
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On Saturday, the DGB called for consistent action against the owner of the truck and his helpers. Among other things, it must be checked whether their appearance and uniform make them a criminal offence. The DGB also said that deportation and the imposition of an entry ban to Germany should be considered, since the men posed a serious threat to public safety and order.
Detainees released again
“It is only thanks to the prudent and calm actions of the police and the protesting drivers on site that there was no violent escalation of the situation,” the DGB representative continued. The trade unions are now examining possible legal steps in cooperation with Polish labor law specialists.
According to the police, 16 people were initially arrested. They are therefore suspected of, among other things, serious breach of the peace, attempted dangerous bodily harm and disruption of a meeting. In the meantime, however, all those involved are free again.
