Volgograd Foreign Students Unpaid for Fitness Center Cleaning
Migrant students from Middle Eastern countries stated that they were left without pay by the director of a cleaning firm from Moscow. They claim that, despite endless promises to return the money, they were first ignored, then called «riff-raff», and later outright asked not to tell anyone that no one was paying them.
«They barely speak Russian»: version of the first victim
Recall that this is about the fitness centers «DDX FITNESS», a former cleaner of which already contacted the V1.RU editorial office for help. She said that she worked for a certain Dmitry Grinshpun, who was responsible for the cleanliness of the sports halls. Polina worked, as she states, unofficially, and until spring everything was fine, until in April delays in salaries began.
«The director said that our money was frozen in accounts, and that as soon as the proceedings ended, they would pay us everything. We then made concessions, especially since they paid us for May. But after that, there were constant excuses: first courts, then appeal, then he got sick and allegedly didn»t know about the course of events, then he himself was busy, had no time to call a lawyer, and so on« — Polina said.
At the end of September, Polina was fired without explanation. Dmitry Grinshpun, whom the editorial office contacted, refused to state the reasons. He claimed that Polina«s version was a lie but promised to pay the cleaner.
»Yes, indeed, we had a delay in salary, but this issue will be closed on 24 October, and she was told about this on 18 October. I will not comment on her dismissal, it is my personal decision, and it was made long ago, back in January. From what I read, 97.5% of it is slander« — Dmitry commented then.
Polina did receive the money, but she was forced to sign a waiver of claims against the director and the organization. Meanwhile, the girl herself stated that, besides her, a group of foreigners who barely speak Russian were left without money.
»Said we were riff-raff from the train station«: new victims
Later, other people contacted the V1.RU editorial office, telling that they became hostages of a similar situation, but, as they claim, they never received their money. In total, according to their version, there are 14 victims, and the wage debt has already exceeded 600,000 rubles (approximately $6,000 at current rates).
The people who recorded the video appeal are foreign students from major universities in Volgograd and the Volgograd Construction College. They came here on student visas and worked in the gyms at night on weekdays and weekends to pay for their food and dormitory rooms. Many of them found themselves in a desperate situation when, as they claim, they were left without money for a whole month of exhausting labor.
«Honestly, the work was very hard — one of the students said. — We were required to have everything clean, we tried to give our full effort. For the entire hall during the night shift, three people worked: a boy and a girl for the locker rooms and a third for cleaning the hall. We worked 12 hours for 2,500 rubles (about $25 at current rates). In the hall, they treated us well, the trainers thanked us for working for such small money, and they themselves were surprised that we weren»t paid for a long time.«
One student even said that after the V1.RU article was published, Dmitry Grinshpun promised to settle with the cleaners by the end of the year: in November, according to the claimant, he paid four people, and promised the rest money in December. Meanwhile, the former cleaners have a recording of a conversation where a man, whose voice resembles Dmitry»s, asks the students not to complain anywhere, lamenting the business partnership problems that arose with the «DDX» network.
The V1.RU correspondent also contacted the previous claimant, Polina. She stated that the students had previously tried to contact other media, but, according to her, it brought no result. Polina also shared correspondence with presumably Dmitry, who asked for a meeting for personal apologies with «monetary compensation».
«He tried to pressure one of the students a lot, like »let me transfer part of the money to your mother«s individual entrepreneur account». I immediately said no way. He could later present a receipt and say that he transferred such an amount and that was exactly how much he owed. Because there are no documents to prove otherwise, everyone worked «under the table», without any contracts« — the girl stated.
Reaction of Dmitry Grinshpun and »DDX FITNESS«
The V1.RU correspondent tried to contact Dmitry Grinshpun and ask him about the situation, but he flatly refused to comment, asking to send him an official written request. The V1.RU editorial office fulfilled Dmitry»s wish but reminded that it had already sent him a similar request earlier, which remained unanswered. As of publication, the V1.RU editorial office had not received responses to any of the requests.
In the press service of «DDX FITNESS», in response to a V1.RU request, they confirmed that they indeed work under a contract with Dmitry Grinshpun«s company, but on their part, they pay on time and have no complaints about the cleaning.
»OOO «Dom byta Komfort» provides cleaning services to DDX Fitness. Settlements with the supplier are made promptly, we have no complaints about the quality of services provided. The question of staff rotation should be addressed directly to OOO «Dom byta Komfort»« — was stated in the response to the request.
The V1.RU editorial office also asked the Lower Volga Labor Inspection to check the cleaners» complaints, but they redirected the questions to Moscow, where Dmitry«s firm is registered.
»On the territory of the Volgograd region, there are no branches of OOO «Dom Byta Komfort» that have the authority of an employer« — was stated in the response to the request.
Notably, in the Moscow State Labor Inspection, in response to a V1.RU request, they stated that they would not conduct an unscheduled inspection if the workers are not threatened with violence and were not paid for only one month, and therefore sent a simple warning to the organization.
»It was not possible to establish interaction with the administration of OOO «Dom Byta Komfort». Federal law provides for a number of conditions under which a decision is made to conduct an inspection, namely:
Availability of reliable information about causing or immediate threat of causing harm to life and severe or moderate harm to citizens« health;
Receipt from workers of appeals about mass violations of their labor rights by employers, related to full or partial non-payment of wages for more than one month».
But, as V1.RU learned, the prosecutor«s office of the Central District of Volgograd has already begun an inspection into the fact of unpaid wages and the situation with foreign students.
