Young Christina Schlömmer’s ordeal happened courtesy of the haulage company she had been working for in Bad Ischl. Her wages were paid late, while she was also expected to tank up her truck with €600-worth of fuel using her own funds before waiting weeks for the cash to be refunded.
Such a situation is naturally impossible to tolerate, and the 26-year-old from Bad Goisern eventually reported her case to AK Austria (the Austrian Chamber for Workers and Employees) district office in Gmunden. The organisation then supported her with the legal termination of her employment agreement.
The driver’s former employer refused to pay for 166 hours of unpaid overtime and unused vacation time. The AK then stepped in to intervene by contacting her former employer, only for the haulage firm to ignore them.
That forced legal proceedings to be initiated before the Labour and Social Court, and it was only then that lorry driver finally received the €6,000 euros she was owed.
Despite the nasty experience Christina had with her former employer, she is quoted as saying she is happy behind the wheel. The truck driver has since found work at another haulage firm in the Salzkammergut region.
Photo: Hewiha, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped)
