The extreme decision to go on hunger strike was taken amid the reported struggle of the families of the drivers to make ends meet and keep themselves fed.
According to FNV Union representative Edwin Atema, who is representing the drivers in their dispute, one trucker said last week he was willing to continue the strike until he dies.
Since the second Agmaz strike began over two months ago, at least two unnamed logistics companies have taken responsibility by making payments to the drivers. In return, the companies have been able to collect their cargo.
However, this hasn’t been enough to make up the shortfall, and the drivers are still owed large sums of money.
A month ago, Red Bull, IKEA, Bauhaus, Obi, Audi, DHL, Dachser, Porsche, Intercargo and Rosner Logistik were all found to have shipments in the Agmaz trailers parked at Gräfenhausen.
Last week, a spokesperson was also quoted as saying that DB Schenker had found Agmaz had been transporting its goods via a third party.
“We discovered that three shipments were subcontracted by DB Schenker to companies in the Mazur Group without our knowledge and without the contractually required consent,” the spokesperson was quoted by taz.de. “Three transport companies were therefore excluded from orders from DB Schenker.”
The scandal surrounding the Agmaz strike has sparked condemnation from local, national and European politicians, as well as charities, unions and NGOs.
However, the strike is seemingly nowhere near to be being resolved.
Earlier this summer, Agmaz boss Łukasz Mazur told trans.iNFO that all salaries had been paid in accordance with the contracts and that the current strike was an illegal protest. He also considers the demands for money to be a means of demanding ransom for the company’s lorries.
There have been no signs of Agmaz changing this position, despite its valuable assets remaining stuck at the Graefenhausen lorry park.
A number of the customers of Agmaz have also been reluctant to take full responsibility, doing little more than blaming a 3rd party for Agmaz being part of its transport chain.
Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the hunger strike will have to be called off in order to protect the health of the striking drivers.
UPDATE 26/01, 08:30 CET: the hunger strike has now been called off. According to hessenschau.de, the federal authorities are now looking into whether Agmaz has committed human rights violations within the scope of Germany’s supply chain law
