Mitte Oktober wurde eine internationale Kampagne gegen VegaNana und ihre Geschäftspartner gestartet (siehe Artikel vom 16. Oktober hier). Seitdem hat es interessante Entwicklungen gegeben. Das Hotel, das die Räumlichkeiten zum Backen in Bratislava zur Verfügung gestellt hat, teilte mit, dass es den Mietvertrag kündigen werde. Andererseits hat GlutenFreeX VegaNana und seine Bäckerin Katarína Podhorová sehr unterstützt. Insbesondere nachdem wir den Laden in Wien während der Internationalen Woche gegen unbezahlte Löhne besucht haben. In diesem Artikel fassen wir die letzten Neuigkeiten und Aktionen zusammen und geben eine schnelle und einfache Anleitung, wie man sich an der Kampagne zur Unterstützung der ehemaligen VegaNana-Mitarbeiterinnen Jana, Laura und Veronika beteiligen kann.

In mid-October an international campaign was initiated against VegaNana and its business partners (see article from 16 October here). Since then, there have been some interesting developments. The hotel that provided the premises for baking in Bratislava informed us that they have terminated the lease agreement. On the other hand, GlutenFreeX has been very supportive towards VegaNana and its baker Katarína Podhorová, especially after we visited the shop in Vienna during the International Week Against Unpaid wages. In this article, we sum up the latest news and actions, and provide a quick and easy guide on how to get involved in the campaign in support of the former VegaNana employees Jana, Laura and Veronika.

(Note: Originally published in Slovak on 15th September 2024) On Tuesday, September 3, VegaNana posted an emotional video response related to a dispute between three former employees over the payment of wages and other financial claims owed. In this article, you will find the video transcribed into text form, accompanied by explanations of how things really are. This will be a longer read, but we find VegaNana`s recent behavior on social media to be unacceptable and in need of a more in-depth response.

(Note: Originally published in Slovak on 28th August 2024) Katarína Podhorová (the boss) and Alexandra Podhorová (the owner of the business license) refuse to pay three former employees who helped shape the newly established vegan bakery. The former employees – Jana, Laura and Veronika, demand payment of the amount owed to them, totaling 17 252,30 euros, and together with the Priama Akcia union, they initiate activities for its payment. Help us and send a message to those responsible, voicing your opinion on their actions. In the article you will find a template message, as well as more detailed information about what happened and how the three colleagues decided to defend themselves and fight for the payment of the money they are owed for the work they have done.
HOW TO SHOW SUPPORT

Die Gewerkschaft Priama Akcia (PA) initiiert eine internationale Kampagne gegen VegaNana, eine vegane Bäckerei in Bratislava (Slowakei), und ihre verbleibenden Geschäftspartner. Die Gewerkschaft wurde von drei Frauen, die früher bei VegaNana gearbeitet haben, mit der Bitte um Hilfe kontaktiert. Insgesamt schuldet die Bäckerei Jana, Laura und Veronika 17.252,30 Euro an nicht gezahlten Löhnen und Sozialversicherungsbeiträgen. Lies weiter, um zu erfahren, wie du oder deine Organisation die Arbeiterinnen unterstützen können (inklusive Mustertext).

Priama Akcia union (PA) is initiating an international campaign against VegaNana, a vegan bakery in Bratislava (Slovakia), and its remaining business partners, including a vegan shop in Vienna. The union was contacted by three women who used to work at VegaNana with a request for help. In total, the bakery owes Jana, Laura, and Veronika 17 252,30 € in unpaid wages and social security contributions. Continue reading to learn how you or your organisation can support the workers (templates that can be used are included).

Our second major event planned in relation to the IWA-AIT centenary took place on 1st April in Collosseum Club in Košice. Thanks to the feedback we got after the first event in Bratislava we were able to improve the IWA history presentation, and the discussion with delegations from SolFed (UK), WAS (Austria), General Secretary of the IWA from Poland and PA was more brisky and content-wise also more compact. Excellent slam poetry performances (Jánoš, Abby, Šupazdela) and evening concert (Ctib, Empty Hall of Fame) provided intensive artistic experience. Moreover, the local Food Not Bombs group took care of tasty vegan refreshments.

It was not easy to organise an event with international participation and completely new stuff that had top be prepared (presentation on the history of the IWA, PA history exhibition), but our impressions are mainly positive. To a large extent, this is because other people have been involved in the preparations thanks to discussions and planning that took place at our open meetings.

The past year has been quite varied and challenging at the same time. In addition to a number of workplace issues, we have been preparing quite intensively for the 28th Congress of the International Workers` Association (IWA/AIT) in Spain. We supported a number of activities in Slovakia and abroad, took part in fundraising events and took care of the preparation of the International Week Against Unpaid Wages. And there was more. Find out more in this annual report.

Between 9th and 11th December the 28th regular IWA Congress took place in Alcoi, Spain. For delegations, it was undoubtedly exhausting since the agenda was long and demanding. Nevertheless, the Congress was exceptional. This was mainly because of the number of delegations and the program prepared by the Congress Committee of the CNT-AIT in Alcoi. It was really a dignified commemoration of 100 years since the founding of IWA in December 1922.

Fed up with oppression. This is how one could briefly describe yesterday‘s protest, which commemorated the two people from the queer community who were murdered on 12th October in Bratislava, as well as the systemic context of oppression. Powerful speeches and the overall energy of the protest, full of anger, rage, grief and humour, created an atmosphere that we have never seen before in Slovakia.

Cases where people contact us about unpaid wages end in different ways. Sometimes they become an open dispute (mostly successful), sometimes the issue is resolved before open dispute, and sometimes the issue is not resolved at all or communication from the workers does not continue. The following article covers almost all the mentioned scenarios that we encountered since last year`s International Week Against Unpaid Wages in various cities across Slovakia It is worth noting that most them were related to hospitality and almost all cases affected women.

Is your boss owing you money? Do you want to get involved in actions to improve workers’ conditions, not just for one week of the year and not just about the issue of unpaid wages? Let us know. The International Week Against Unpaid Wages was established in 2019 by the International Workers` Association (IWA) to highlight the phenomenon of unpaid wages and the possibilities to fight back using anarcho-syndicalist methods. From 10th to 16th October, we will draw attention to this issue in various forms.

Usually, we try to commemorate May Day in a practical way. Last year on this day we published a questionnaire with the aim to get in touch with people around Slovakia and we also participated in the preparation of the May Day special edition of Burič magazine. This year we accepted invitation of Wiener ArbeiterInnen-Syndikat (WAS) for an picnic and participation in the Mayday demonstration.

The year 2021 was mainly about developing contacts in the regions, solidarity activities and participation in public events. We also won another conflict and supported several workers with their workplace problems. We took part in actions against the climate crisis, coordinated the International Week Against Unpaid Wages and hosted the IWA Plenary and Extraordinary Congress.

This year’s “Week” was accompanied by activities in at least 17 countries. IWA organizations informed about the Week in various ways – some took actions in the streets, some mobilized and prepared for conflicts, some shared experience from their conflicts, and some simply published the statement. Let’s evaluate this year’s Week.

This was our fastest victory so far. It took just eight days from a collective delivery of a demand letter for the former veterinary hospital worker to receive the money in her account. Same as in our last case in 2019, we succeeded before the conflict went into the public phase, since the boss paid the amount owed within a deadline. We are thankful to all people who came out to support the worker during the letter delivery and wanted to join the planned solidarity campaign! In this article you will find more information about the conflict and an interview with the worker. If you have a problem with unpaid money and want to actively address it, please contact us.