In March and April 2023, more than 60 truck drivers from countries including Georgia and Uzbekistan gathered at a rest area in Germany to demand wages owed to them by Polish trucking consortium Mazur Group or Agmaz-Lukmaz-Imperia.

At the end of April, German media reported that drivers had reached an agreement with their employer, who agreed to pay outstanding wages.

However at the end of July, drivers working for the same company were gathered again to demand unpaid wages and protest working conditions including long working hours, being forced to exclusively live in their trucks, and other unsafe working practices. According to the International Transport Federation over 130 drivers from Georgia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, and Tajikistan were striking at the rest area.

The company is said to haul goods for major multinational customers and logistics companies across Europe, including IKEA, Volkswagen, DHL, CH Robinson and sennder. In media statements, IKEA, VW, and DHL denied having a contractual relationship with the Mazur Group.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Mazur Group, CH Robinson and sennder to respond. Responses from sennder and CH Robinson are available below. Mazur Group did not respond.

In a statement provided to media, the Mazur Group said that all salaries were paid in a timely manner and they had undergone a recent inspection which found no irregularities in payments.

At the end of September, the German Supply Chain Act Enforcement Authority (BAFA) visited the drivers. They would be examining whether any German companies had violated the law, the head of BAFA said. Shortly after this visit, Edwin Atema, head of the Road Transport Due Diligence Foundation and who had been negotiating on behalf of the drivers, said the drivers had reached a pay deal, received written assurances that Mazur Group would refrain from any further legal action and ended their strike.

Details of the pay agreement were not disclosed. Mazur Group was quoted in German media outlets as saying the money did not come from them. The spokesperson confirmed that the company had received their trucks back.