Genelec employees protest after going unpaid for three months

Around 40 employees of installation company Genelec aired their frustrations over non-payment of wages during a demonstration outside No.6 Convent Place on Monday morning.

Genelec employees Felipe Lopez and Natalia Torres told the Chronicle that staff have been left devastated after the company has not paid salaries over the past three months while they all continued to work.

They described how many have struggled to make ends meet over the festive period and that this has caused great distress to workers and their families.

At the core of their issues is that staff want to be paid for three months work and have their contracts terminated, so that they can begin to claim unemployment benefits.

Mr Felipe said the company director has ignored the issue, will not respond, and has not paid out.

Ms Torres added that this director is not in Gibraltar and that staff have been left in limbo.

“We don't have any material to work with because the suppliers have cut our supply, because supposedly they are not being paid either,” Mr Felipe said.

He added that customers are also suffering as their projects have been stopped.

“Only thing we want is that they pay us our salary and that they give us our termination,” Mr Felipe said.

“We can't quit our jobs until they pay us and give us our termination. If the company closes due to bankruptcy it’s the boss who has to make that decision.”

“He can't remain completely hidden and give us no answer. What he is doing to us is a bit cowardly and a bit shameless.”

Mr Felipe underscored the grief that this has caused staff who are suffering with serious financial issues and psychological issues as a result.

“The children are having a bad time, there is no food in the house, there are people who are sick, there are people who are having a very bad time and the only thing we want is that they give us freedom so that we can continue to work, because there are people here who can continue to work,” he said.

“There are people who have to quit and can't leave because they can't submit their papers to leave. That's the problem, and he doesn't give us the answer, that's the biggest problem.”

The workers held a large sign ordering Genelec to ‘pay now’ and were dressed in their work uniforms when greeted by Chief Secretary Glendon Martinez, who informed them that the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo would hear their concerns outside No.6 Convent Place.

Mr Picardo later spoke to the employees, greeting each of them individually during their demonstration, to understand their grievances.

“I can assure the staff that I'm going to look into it, but there's nothing else that I can do directly, because it's not something which relates directly to the government,” Mr Picardo said.

“I've asked also whether there are government jobs involved, in which case it might be easier to use monies due from the government to pay the salaries, but it appears that's not the case, so I'm going to talk to the Director of Employment now and understand what the issues are.”

“This is something that popped up really for the first time last week, but it's extraordinary in Gibraltar.”

“You can see that, interestingly, there's no one in the workforce who is local. I doubt any local would have accepted not being paid for one moment and going back to work. I think that dynamic obviously has something to do with this.”

“They need determinations. I'm sure that we can organise determinations and show that it's because of the company's failure rather than the individuals somehow withdrawing their labour, which would mean that they wouldn't be able to receive their payments in Spain.”

The Chronicle has reached out to the company director but has been unable to make contact.