Faxes / Emails for Stranded Chinese Workers

Call for Support (Sending Faxes and E-mails)
(sent by ZSP-IWA Warsaw)

21 Construction Workers Stranded in Warsaw

The workers came from the Xantung province to work in Poland. They paid huge money to an agency for these jobs and one-way tickets to Poland. They were hired by a company called Turret Development. Turret
Development is owned by American businessman Michael Alter, president of the Alter Group, one of the ten largest commercial real estate developers in the United States. Alter has been investing in real estate in Poland and using cheap Asian labour for this work.

The people worked last year on the Wola Tower construction site in Warsaw, After that, they were sent by Turret to work in Lodz and in Olawa, doing finishing work in new flats during the winter.

This transfer of the workers was done illegally: Turret has no construction projects in these cities. It is unclear still whether they worked for a subcontractor related somehow to Alter's business (he has 15 companies registered in Poland), or they were subcontracted to another firm.

Turret Development at one point decided that they no longer desired the services of the workers and let them go.

The law in Poland is that work visas for citizens of countries like China expire immediately upon termination of the work contract with the employer who organized it. Upon termination of the contract, workers must leave the country within a few days. If they do not, they are considered illegal in the country and face deportation. Deportation is accompanied by a stamp in the passport which bars the worker from returning to work in the whole European Union for 5 years. Also, the workers may be held in detention for many months.

When Turret fired the workers, the local director decided to inform the Border Police and asked them to deport the workers. This was already some time ago. These people found other jobs but lost them because of problems with the Border Police.

Currently they are in a precarious situation. They are camped out on the lawn of the Chinese Embassy, which is out of Polish jurisdiction. Theoretically, the moment they cross the street, they may be arrested and deported.

Demands

We demand that Turret Development take responsibility for the workers it is using and pay for their tickets home.

We will also be demanding to the authorities that no stamps be put in their passports for overstaying their
visas in Poland.

Faxes / Emails
We ask that people send faxes and emails to these companies.

Addresses:

Tomasz Dabrowski
Prezes
Turret Development
ul. Racławicka 114
02-634 Warszawa
tel: (+48 22) 30 10 156
fax:(+48 22) 30 10 152
e-mail: turret@turret.com.pl
office@turret.com.pl

Michael Alter
President
The Alter Group
5500 West Howard Street
Skokie, IL 60077
tel: (+01847) 568-5902
faxe: (+01847) 676-4302
e-mail: malter@altergroup.com

SAMPLE TEXT (You can change if you like)
Stop Exploitation! Buy Plane Tickets for Stranded Chinese Workers

Turret Development in Poland hired a group of workers from China to work on the Wola Tower construction project in Warsaw. It then illegally sent them to work in Olawa and Lodz before terminating their contract and contacting the Polish border guards about their deportation. Currently, 21 of these workers are stranded in
Warsaw with no money to return home.

Turret Development and Alter Group: You have responsibilities towards the people you invite to work for you!

Enough exploitation of cheap foreign labour! We demand that you help these people return by buying them plane tickets.

Signed