The luxury sports school where Marieke Elsinga, among others, perfected her squats, turns out to have offered five exploited cleaners 5,000 euros in silence. Per person. “Refused.”
Saints & Stars, the sporting amusement park for Dutch celebrities, fit fluencers and affiliated types, has been under enormous fire since Het Parool revealed that cleaners were structurally exploited there. Now it turns out: shortly before that publication, the gym tried to silence five fired Filipino cleaners with a lot of money.
5,000 euros
The five united under one lawyer and he approached Saints & Stars. After negotiations, the lawyer of the gym chain offered them 5,000 euros per person gross, net they would have around 3,000 euros. One important condition: they had to sign a document stating that they were ‘always treated well’.
Lying that you were having a good time, in exchange for 3,000 euros net. The deal was turned off. The cleaners now want to demand 60,000 euros per person through the court, partly because of what they call a ‘toxic work culture’.
Exploitation
In an email to all members, the scandal gym stated that ‘no exploitation has taken place’. Everything would have gone according to the rules. No passports taken, paid every hour.
Remarkable, because earlier research showed: some worked 17 hours a day, slept with four in one bed and sometimes got no wages at all. Passports were taken, according to several sources.
Discomfort
Among the regular visitors to the BN’er-Gym was Marieke Elsinga. For years she received free membership in exchange for promotion. In RTL Boulevard she responded uncomfortably last week.
Marieke has been called to hand over the sponsor money that she earned at Saints & Stars. “It’s a bit of blood money,” is the criticism.