As Radio Prague reports, the "client system" has existed in the Czech Republic for more than ten years. However, earlier only the Russian-language Czech press wrote about it. Czechs seemed not to notice that slave trade in the most direct sense of the word was happening right under their noses. However, at the forum "On Migration in Central and Eastern Europe" they spoke about this problem for the first time. This provoked a storm of questions from journalists and stories from participants. Jan Černík from the public organization "Sociopolis" described the client system in a few words:
- Most people working in the Czech Republic come from Western Ukraine. Recruitment is carried out in most cases directly in Ukraine - through agencies that arrange visas and have contacts in the Czech Republic. Clients, as a rule, offer not only work but also accommodation in dormitories or rented apartments. The client ensures that, in case of job loss, a replacement is found immediately. For these services, the client takes up to 50% of workers' salaries. If the cost of labor is estimated at 80 crowns per hour, the worker receives only half of that amount in hand.
At first glance, it seems there is nothing terrible about this: the worker pays for job placement intermediary services. However, he pays not just once. Having fallen into the hands of one client, he gives from 30% to 50% of his salary monthly. Why does he voluntarily part with his money?
The fact is that Czech legislation regulates the influx of labor migrants. This concerns precisely those people who have temporarily come to the Czech Republic to earn money. To work legally in the republic, a migrant must have a permit for this. And to formalize their legal stay, they need to obtain not only the consent of the future employer but also a permit from the labor exchange. According to the law, the exchange must find a Czech for the vacant position. If it fails to do so within the three months prescribed by law, it has the right to issue a permit for employing a foreigner.
A guest worker who has come to the Czech Republic for a few months, as a rule, cannot wait that long. And in practice, this system does not work: very few employers agree to go through the procedure of obtaining a permit for the sake of a foreigner. Therefore, labor migrants turn to a client to find work, who finds a place on illegal terms. Payment for labor is made by transferring the salary from the employer's account to the client's account, who then cashes the necessary amounts and gives them to the guest workers. It is for these services that the migrant monthly pays his hard-earned money.
- Exploitation consists in the fact that the worker depends on a certain client, says Jan Černík from the public organization "Sociopolis". - In essence, without a client, the migrant is helpless: he does not know the laws and local rules. Therefore, the client has unlimited freedom and often abuses it. For example, he delays payment of money, does not allow the worker to independently look for a place or legalize, not to mention that he does not pay the entire amount earned by the migrant. The clients pass the workers themselves to each other like slaves. This system resembles medieval slavery, when a feudal lord used the labor of his serfs.
The second largest diaspora in the Czech Republic is Ukrainians. They constitute the bulk of illegal workers in the Czech Republic. Quite recently, after Czech President Václav Klaus visited Ukraine, the presidents of the two countries spoke about the need to legalize Ukrainians in the republic. However, so far things have not gone beyond talk. The new law "On Foreigners," recently adopted by the Czech government, softens the conditions of stay for emigrants in the Czech Republic, but does not change the status of labor migrants in any way.
- The principle of organizing the labor market in the Czech Republic is influenced by organized crime, Jan Černík believes. - Therefore, I believe that temporary labor migration needs to be legalized. I am not talking about mass legalization so that every guest worker in the Czech Republic suddenly obtains legal residence status. But administrative facilitation of employment is needed. For example, licensing intermediary agencies, introducing temporary employment cards, etc. All this is in the hands of the state, which, if it makes a step forward, will also gain trust from labor migrants.
Changes are necessary because not only Ukrainian workers have begun to fall into the client network, but also people who have the opportunity to work legally in the Czech Republic. Why?
- The paradox of this system is that it also catches those who have the legal right to work in the Czech Republic, Jan Černík continues. - For example, residents of the Baltic republics, that is, countries that are members of the European Union. These people are here legally, but due to language or adaptation problems, it is difficult for them to get a job. They look for free jobs through a client intermediary. Because among those who come here, there is a stereotype that a person from a former Soviet Union country can find work only with the help of an intermediary.
Clients exist because their services are popular both among workers and employers. Labor migrants are mainly engaged in cleaning, followed by furniture cleaning, dishwashing, or construction. Czechs do not want to do such unskilled work for pennies, and moreover, they do not agree to work 10-12 hours a day. No one can say exactly how many people are involved in the client system. According to approximate data, from 10 to 20 thousand people. Why do Czech politicians turn a blind eye to the developing illegal labor market?
Here is what Ondřej Soukup from the Association for International Affairs said about this:
- It seems to me that this situation stems from the general rejection of foreigners by Czech society. There is also a perception that economically we are not rich enough to afford to accept people - refugees, migrants. However, such an attitude ultimately leads to a complete ignoring of potentially educated and hardworking people who, instead of working legally in the Czech Republic, are forced either to be in the shadow economy or to leave the Czech Republic further West, where the laws are more lenient.