In Poland, migrant workers from Latin America report abuse, exploitation

"Latin Americans are increasingly flocking to Poland for work, lured by the false promise of secure salaries. Wroclaw, Poland Rocio Flores, a 44-year-old mother of three, stood trembling in the bathroom of a dilapidated country house in Blaszki, a village in central Poland. Her breath was shallow as her heart pounded. Minutes earlier, a man from the agency she had been working for had waved a gun at her and five of her Colombian coworkers."

"It was August 2023. In my homeland, Mexico, when a man reaches for his gun, it is because he wants to use it, she told Al Jazeera. I thought I was going to die there, I thought my body would be thrown into the cornfields, and I would never see my children again. The dispute began when the agency representative announced that the workers' shifts at the Plukon chicken processing plant would be extended to 12 hours due to staff shortages."

"Al Jazeera has reviewed the video of Flores's ordeal recorded by one of the workers, and identified the gunman as a Ukrainian. The man was then employed by a contractor company that worked with Jober24, a temporary recruitment agency supplying staff to Plukon. In the video, following a physical altercation with one of the Colombian employees, the man in question walks to his car and pulls a gun."

Latin Americans are increasingly recruited to Poland with promises of secure salaries but frequently encounter exploitation, unsafe conditions and withheld wages. A 44-year-old Colombian worker hid trembling after an agency representative waved a gun during a dispute over extended 12-hour shifts and unpaid wages. The gunman, later identified as a Ukrainian employed by a contractor linked to a recruitment agency serving a chicken processing plant, threatened the workers and referenced calling authorities to remove undocumented employees. The incident highlights the replacement of Ukrainian temporary labour by Latin American recruits and the risks posed by intermediary agencies seeking cheap labour.

Read at www.aljazeera.com