#Inhumane #working #conditions #Orlen #construction #site #shame #Poland
A modern refinery and petrochemical complex of Orlen is being built in Płock. The investment worth PLN 25 billion is highly controversial. The main reason is the scandalous working conditions of foreigners employed on the construction site.
Wyborcza.pl and the TVN program “Uwaga” conducted a joint journalistic investigation into working conditions at the construction site of the Orlen Olefiny III complex in Płock. It lasted as long as two months. It shows that several thousand Indians and Filipinos working there, as well as smaller numbers of emigrants from Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Turkmenistan, live in inhumane conditions.
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Z interview conducted by Michał Żyłowski from Wyborcza.pl with businessman Chandu Nallu shows that construction workers are paid late or do not receive them at all. They have to pay fines for each day of absence, and employed foreigners compare their living conditions to prison. Unfortunately, such poor treatment of foreign employees often happens in the case of small companies, but in this case we are talking about a large state-owned company that is implementing a multi-billion investment. This is an unprecedented situation.
Emigrants working on the Olefin III construction site are embittered. “They treat us like animals”
Employees from Asia told journalists that, among other things, they work in a warehouse with dangerous chemicals. They were equipped with protective clothing and masks, but the latter did not work effectively. One of the heroes of the report developed a severe cough after a few days of work. He has already spent several hundred zlotys on treating the disease on his own and has become a regular customer of pharmacies in Płock. During his absence from work due to his health condition, he did not receive payment. On the contrary: the Indian had to pay a fine to his employer. The story shows that this is not an isolated case.
This is only the beginning of the bad news delivered by foreign employees of Orlen’s construction site. They spend their lives almost like prisoners in a constant cycle of work-sleep-work-sleep. They don’t have time or energy for anything else. Breaks at work are spent in dirty containers, eating your own sandwiches while squatting. In addition, workers have been waiting for months for overdue contracts and payments, which they cannot demand from their Korean boss. Only constant humiliation awaited people who emigrated from distant countries to Poland in the hope of a better life. Previously, they paid large sums to employment agencies for the opportunity to work in Poland. Often, these were all their life savings, and now the fate of entire families depends on their earnings.
“The boss treated us like dogs. This job is my worst life decision
– says Libin from the Indian state of Kerala with tears in his eyes to the Wyborcza.pl journalist.
There is a “curfew” in the camp with housing containers for workers
How did Libin relax after work? He lived in Płock with 70 other workers from India and the Philippines in a shared house with one kitchen and two showers. In addition, one of them did not work, and you had to wait in a long queue to get to the other one. This is just one of many examples of the dramatic stories told by the reportage’s heroes. Some people live in a special construction camp full of houses made of containers. There is a “curfew” on its premises, which means that after 10 p.m. security guards from the “Orlen Ochrona” company do not allow residents to enter.
Another person employed in the construction of the Orlen complex said that he had already worked in Oman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, but nowhere had he encountered such bad treatment and such tragic living conditions. The consortium of Hyundai Engineering and Tecnicas Reunidas is responsible for the design, procurement and construction of the Orlen Olefiny III refinery and petrochemical complex. Asian workers are not employed directly by Orlen. The structure resembles a pyramid. At the very top there is a gigantic company with State Treasury shares, and below it there is a Korean-Spanish consortium and a lot of subcontractors: Polish and Korean companies. They employ other, even smaller companies that are responsible for providing cheap labor.
When the workers, angry and deprived of their wages, organized a strike, it was brutally suppressed. The recordings show people struggling with other men. The victims’ accounts show that they threw their belongings in front of the house and forbade them to return. Some have not recovered their outstanding money to this day. Emigrants complain that their employers treated them like animals or slaves. Their shame is so great that many cannot tell the truth even to their families.
Scandalous working conditions at the Orlen construction site are to be one of the topics of the investigative commission
The Olefins III complex is one of Orlen’s most important investments launched during the rule of the Law and Justice coalition. When the production of ethylene and propylene starts in 2027, it will guarantee the company an additional billion in revenue per year. Daniel Obajtek called the complex “the largest petrochemical investment in Europe”. The then president of Orlen announced its commencement together with the Minister of State Assets, Jacek Sasin, and representatives of the contractor: an international consortium. Obajtek will soon have to explain this to the parliamentary investigative committee.
When asked about working conditions that violate humanity, representatives of all the companies involved, including the Orlen press office, answer that they are not responsible for the situation, know nothing about it or simply avoid contact. Everyone washes their hands. This does not change the fact that the situation at the construction site of a gigantic complex commissioned by one of the most famous Polish companies and the largest companies with State Treasury participation is not a problem of its superiors but of the entire country. The working conditions at the construction site of Olefin III should not be ashamed of the emigrants employed there, but of every Pole.
