Not only are they insisting on a rate reduction, they offloaded a good portion of my work to on-site office personnel. Personnel who should not have to do said work, nor are particularly qualified to do so. I'm a professional translator, specialized in legal and pharmaceutical, twenty years of experience translating documents. My work is of very high quality (and it should be, after 20 years doing it), yet they want me to reduce my rates by 30% because “I'm too expensive”, even though my rates with them are already lower than what I charge other clients.
To add insult to injury their local subsidiary owes me 1000 USD for almost a year now, and they continue to pay (late) for the other subsidiary I also provide work for, whose manager says he can't (actually won't) do a thing because it is “an unrelated matter”. They are the same company, it is related. It should be.
So I stopped providing service altogether, until this matter is resolved. Their response? Call my bluff, thinking I will bow down my head and keep working to maintain my income. Not anymore. After a full week of no work coming in, the other subsidiary manager calls me, calling me childish, immature, and whiny, for raising such a ruckus over “a mere 1k” debt. That the local subsidiary is having a rough patch, that I should be understanding, etc. I had to bite my tongue to not blow up on him, which he took as a sign I was submitting to him. Then he ordered me, not asked, ordered me to talk it out, then ordered me.to call him in two days to reduce my rates. Not asked, ordered.
Today I have my meeting with the local manager. I have been warned that he has chosen to higher a third rate, mafia style lawyer as chief of HR, who uses intimidation tactics and legalese to try to “dissuade” anyone from getting paid. As such, they have zero intention of paying me. I added up things. This guy's is on the official payroll. No way HQ is not on the know. They would rather hire someone to strongarm and intimidate people into not getting their payment, rather than pay, just because they think they can.
Well, they miscalculated. I have worked for that company since they came to my country. And I was the documentalist of sorts; I needed to be, to translate effectively and avoid double work. And I know all the secrets, all the skeletons, and I pretty much hold all the keys. So I will get my payment, as well as the payment of my other colleagues.
I will just make them an offer they can't refuse.