There's always labour solidarity

The employees of the company “VIM-Avia”, which operations were suspended  following the owners' escape abroad,  appealed to the Seafarers Union of Russia (SUR) asking to assist them in recovering wage debts, according to Nikolay Sukhanov, the Chairman of the Far Eastern Territorial Organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR FETO). To date, more than 1,300 employees have remained without their honestly earned money, and the total debt amount is about  630 million rubles.

"The life of the of the VIM-Avia employees today consists of  legal claims to courts, labor inspections, investigation committee and other bodies. Since mid-December, we regularly organize one-person pickets near all supervision and industry-related agencies, send letters and appeals to different authorities, but the only feedback we receive from officials is formal replies. Down-time due to the fault of employer is not paid. The issue of repayment of back wages smoothly flows into a rhetorical quesyion, - the letter of VIM-Avia employees to SUR said.  - We understand that the aviation industry has its own specifics, nevertheless, any help or information from you will be very useful. Please give us a little of your time".

According to the prosecutors, the company's management thoroughly concealed losses, deliberately falsifying the  financial statements of the company in order to secure bank loans and avoid operation restrictions from the part of Federal Air Transport Agency.

-First of all, the employees of VIM-Avia should  inform their trade union about the actions being taken and enlist public to the matter, then they should appeal to the General Prosecutor's Office and to the President of the Russian Federation. For our part, we have already involved  the mass media and hope that our joint efforts will help to resolve this issue,  Nikolai Sukhanov said.