Researcher: Thai berry-pickers Exploited in Finland

A researcher who has spent time with Thais working in Finland as seasonal berry-pickers says that their position and working conditions are deplorable.

      “The pickers work 14-20 hours per day continuously for up to three months with no days off, and their living and hygienic conditions are lousy”, says Thai Migrant Workers Union researcher Junya Yimprasert.
    
The largest sums of money a Thai berry-picker could go home with after a summer’s work in Finland would be in the region of a couple of thousand euros, but some have actually ended up owing up to EUR 1,000.

According to Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) lawyer Anu-Tuija Lehto, it is nearly impossible to intervene in the conditions of the pickers as in Finland they are classified as entrepreneurs.
     
Still, the pickers cannot sell the berries that they have collected to outsiders, nor can they negotiate over their price.

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