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In the fiber optic industry there are increasing numbers ARD-Research cases of wage fraud and illegal employment. The calls for stricter laws are getting louder.
It was a tough few months for Tahir, Jovan and Sasa: Last summer, the three men from Serbia and Bosnia came to Germany to work on expanding the fiber optic network here. In Mössingen in Baden-Württemberg, they tore up streets and sidewalks in order to then lay the empty conduits for the wafer-thin fiber optics.
“Everything I’ve done in life, I’ve done it with my ten fingers,” says Tahir proudly. That’s how it should be this time too. But their direct employers from Slovenia and Croatia only took advantage of them, the three say. The promise to receive a proper employment contract and to have health and social insurance was never kept.
Accusation: illegal work and wage evasion
The three workers returned to their homeland last fall, but are still waiting for part of their wages. Twelve euros per hour was agreed at the time, says Sasa. He alone was still missing around 3,000 euros. Money that the single father urgently needs.
Around 20 other people now say that something similar happened to them at the same employers. In Mössingen it was Deutsche Glasfaser that built the network on site. However, as is usual in the fiber optic and construction industry, the group uses other general, subcontractors and subcontractors who coordinate and carry out the work on site.
chain of sub-subcontractors
Report Mainz has contacted all companies involved and asked for statements. The direct employers of the Eastern European men did not respond. Deutsche Fiberglass generally emphasizes that it “of course adheres to all labor law regulations”. A colleague from construction partner management checked the construction site in Mössingen in August. “In discussions with various workers (…) no complaints about working conditions were brought to her attention.”
On the other hand, Kubus Projektbau, which was also involved in the fiber optic expansion in Mössingen, writes that “our subcontractors did not fully meet their obligations”. The subcontractor “cannot fully control (…) how and whether its workers are paid”.
Violations of the law on construction sites nationwide
What happened to the construction workers in Mössingen does not appear to be an isolated case. Report Mainz has documented dozens of other incidents that have occurred in various regions of Germany since the beginning of 2022. The spectrum ranges from undeclared work, illegal employment and wage evasion to 16-hour working days to organized crime and human trafficking – everything happens in fiber optic expansion.
In one case, a man from Hungary working in North Rhine-Westphalia was beaten by his subcontractor. When he asked about the missing wages, he was shown the door. In another case, in the spring of 2023, customs officials arrested three entrepreneurs from the Marburg area who were active on behalf of Glasfaser Plus – a joint venture between Deutscher Telekom and the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund. They are said to have evaded taxes and social security contributions on a large scale. In Rittersheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, the local mayor tells of construction workers who had to go hungry.
IG Bau appeals Internet provider
Carsten Burckhardt, who sits on the federal board of the Construction-Agrar-Environment Industrial Union (IG BAU), primarily appeals to companies’ social responsibility. “The large clients have to make sure that those who lay fiber optic cables are professionals and have proper working conditions,” he says.
However, his union has noticed a high level of bogus self-employment on construction sites. “As a Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone – or whatever Telekom company – you can’t be satisfied with that. You also want to convey values,” says Burckhardt. But because the civil engineering market is very competitive, companies that have nothing to do with the construction industry are now entering the competition.
In fact, according to the Federal Association of Broadband Communications (BREKO), the pace of expansion is now quite high. The federal government presented its “gigabit strategy” in mid-2022. According to this, half of all households in Germany should have a fast fiber optic connection by 2025. The industry association BREKO currently considers this goal to be realistic. The question arises: Is the rapid expansion taking place on the backs of the construction workers?
Lack of transparency encourages exploitation
A problem for the affected workers is often the lack of transparency in the sub-subcontractor system. Example Dawid Serafin: The Pole worked on several fiber optic construction sites between Schleswig and Rendsburg three years ago. When his employer did not pay the outstanding wages of more than 8,000 euros net, he took the matter to the Flensburg Labor Court. The court agreed with him, but his former employer filed for bankruptcy – and has therefore not paid up to this day.
Now Serafin would actually have to turn to the next person in the sub-subcontractor chain, such as the general contractor. But he doesn’t know who that is – not even which telecommunications provider commissioned the network construction in northern Germany at the time.
Construction worker in Dependency relationship
“Unfortunately, there is usually a lack of transparency,” says Frederic Hüttenhoff, who is a research associate at the Institute for Work and Qualification at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The lack of transparency makes it difficult for both customs authorities and employees to enforce the law.
In addition, according to Hüttenhoff, many construction workers – whether from Eastern Europe or from third countries such as North Africa or the Middle East – often did not have a network and therefore did not want to mess up with their only employer. “So they don’t take action against labor exploitation.” It is often even worse for people from third countries who only have a right of residence here. “The right of residence here is linked to employment. If you lose your job, you have to leave the country immediately.” The employees are therefore in a strong relationship of dependency.
Traffic light politician calls for special regulations
Because of the nationwide cases of social dumping in fiber optic expansion, calls for stricter rules are becoming louder. In an interview with Report Mainz For example, Frank Bsirske, Green member of the Bundestag and former head of the ver.di union, calls for a so-called special regulation on fiber optics. “This means that only general contractors and subcontractors who can prove that they are registered with SOKA-BAU, the construction industry’s social fund, should be allowed to be commissioned.”
The traffic light politician can also imagine further tightening of the law: for example, an obligation that telecom providers must regularly check all companies in the chain to check whether they are adhering to legal requirements. The billions in subsidies from the federal, state and local governments for fiber optic expansion should also be linked to social standards. Because one thing is clear to the industry, says Bsirske: “These are outrageous conditions, this is organized wage fraud that is crying out for action.”