The construction company PK & ECD I/S has been placed under bankruptcy proceedings. The company has been a subcontractor on the Storstrøm Bridge for several years.
The bankruptcy petition was filed on December 27, 2024, and the bankruptcy decree was issued by the bankruptcy court on March 7, 2025. Attorney Michala Roepstorff from Plesner has been appointed as trustee, and creditors now have four weeks to file their claims.
Over the past year, PK & ECD I/S has experienced a significant decline in the number of employees. At the end of 2023, the company employed up to 175 people, but by the end of July 2024, only 13 employees remained.
Additionally, both Chairman Francesco Lauriello and board member Angelo Barbato resigned shortly before the bankruptcy. At the same time, the accounting firm Kovsted & Skovgård withdrew from the collaboration.
The case at the arbitration court
In April 2024, PK & ECD I/S was convicted in a labor arbitration case brought by 3F. The case concerned wage conditions for foreign workers on the Storstrøm Bridge, where 3F claimed that the company had systematically underpaid employees, thereby violating the collective agreement.
The union originally demanded a back payment of almost 41 million kroner, including wage arrears for 16 employees and a differential claim for the savings from underpaying non-unionized employees. PK & ECD rejected the accusations and argued that their own timesheets showed the correct working hours.
The arbitration court ruled that the company's records were not reliable. Instead, the court emphasized gate data and the employees' own calendar records, which showed that they had actually worked more hours than stated by the company.
However, the court reduced 3F's claim and set a total payment of 10.3 million kroner. Of this, 2.35 million kroner was back payment to the affected employees, while 8 million kroner was a penalty to 3F for the financial advantage the company had gained by not paying correct wages.
In February this year, the company lost yet another labor arbitration and was ordered to pay a penalty of over 7.5 million kroner to 3F.
Neither the 10 million nor the 7.5 million have ever been paid. They are now part of the bankruptcy estate. If there is no money in the estate, the claim goes to the Italian main contractor SBJV, which is liable for subcontractors' wages. A so-called chain liability that applies to state construction projects.
