Foreign seasonal workers face exploitation in northern Finland

As the winter holiday season winds down in Finland’s far north, fresh allegations of seasonal worker exploitation are once again coming to light.

Up to 40 percent of foreign seasonal workers responding to a survey by Service Union United PAM said they had faced exploitation.

Problems include cramped accommodation and working long hours without breaks. Cited issues included unpredictable shifts, insufficient rest periods and days off, as well as unpaid overtime.

PAM said some companies continue the same patterns year after year since both oversight and sanctions are lacking.

Yle heard from Spaniard Sergi Alos, who arrived in Finland in late October and began working for an events company in Rovaniemi.

After just a week, he changed jobs when he discovered that his employer’s accommodation consisted of shared lodging for 26 people in a former grocery store.

He then moved to another company, only to end up in even larger shared housing, with 40 people living in a converted former elder care home.

With space limited, the shower also served as two workers’ sleeping quarters — they, too, paid the employer 300 euros in rent.

Safety concerns

Seasonal workers interviewed by Yle also raised concerns about their own safety and that of customers.

“Even bus drivers are entitled to breaks, but we aren’t. We drive non-stop for 12 to 16 hours,” said Pierre Laporté, a seasonal worker from France.

Laporté and Alos were both employed by the same company. According to Alos, the firm continuously tracked the location of northern lights tour groups via GPS.

Seasonal workers also shared how 300 litres of petrol were sometimes loaded into the back of vehicles on northern lights tours.

“If there is a crash in such a situation, it is certain death for everyone on board,” explained Laporté.

Henna-Kaisa Turpeinen, PAM’s regional manager for northern Finland, said the problem is that some companies break labour rules year after year due to a lack of sanctions and because investigating exploitation claims takes time.

Oversight of workplace safety falls under the Finnish Supervisory Agency.

In Lapland, the agency carried out just 14 inspections during the winter season that has now ended.

“That’s not a lot,” she said.

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Nunavut’s incoming premier wants to bring jobs to Inuit and build more schools, CBC News

Sweden: Employers in far north of Sweden struggling to fill job vacancies, Radio Sweden