I sometimes cycle past large fields where people are helping with the harvest. Not Norwegians, but labour immigrants.
They work early and late, weekdays and weekends. I sometimes wonder where they come from, what they earn, how they live – and whether someone is making sure the rules of the labour market apply to those working in those fields.
Read this article in Norwegian on our Arbeidsliv i Norden.
A few years ago, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority uncovered a number of highly questionable conditions among berry pickers and vegetable producers. Seasonal workers faced poor living and working conditions and were paid below the collectively agreed rates.
A new minimum wage was introduced in agriculture and horticulture. Even though Norway has no general minimum wage, it has been introduced in nine industries to prevent foreign workers from receiving poorer pay and working conditions than what is standard in Norway.
Still, when the Labour Inspection Authority last year conducted around 150 fresh inspections in the horticultural sector of agriculture, they found breaches of basic legal requirements in three out of four cases.
Most were breaches of employment contracts and rules on working hours, but there were also breaches of regulations on wage payments and accommodation.
So it is not so strange that I wonder what life is really like for those workers in the fields.
The fight against labour market crime is high on the political agenda during Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers this year.
The conference “Preventing Labour Exploitation and Promoting Fair Work” in Helsinki in September heard similar stories about berry pickers in Finland.
And foreign workers in other industries are also grossly exploited. These are people who fall outside labour market laws and regulations. They are pressured into silence.
But do we still care?
The question was raised by Sirle Blumberg at the conference on labour crime. She heads the support service for victims of human trafficking at Estonia’s national social insurance agency.
Blumberg is concerned that stories of exploited victims no longer provoke the same reaction as before.
From Iceland, however, we hear that cries for help have breathed new life into the fight against labour market crime. The so-called Quang Le case began when a union inspector received the following message from employees at the company:
“We work hard, pay our taxes, but are not treated like humans.”
The attention and clean-up surrounding the Quang Le case has encouraged more people to come forward with information about possible exploitation and human trafficking.
Denmark has chosen to open up for more migrant workers – but only for companies covered by collective agreements.
The new agreement, which comes into force at the New Year, has been welcomed by both employers and trade unions. They believe it will help prevent social dumping and schemes that undermine hard-won collective rights for workers.
In Sweden, work has been underway since 2021 on an official inquiry into labour market crime. The consultation process is now drawing to a close.
Behind the inquiry lies extensive work and lengthy reports. But sometimes a relatively short and simple quote is enough to grasp what it is really about:
“If a car wash is 100 kronor, or a nail salon charges just a few hundred, something is not right,” says Arne Alfredsson of the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
Happy reading!
