Paltry Wages for Many Foreign Construction Workers
Image: YLE
YLE's current events show Ajankohtainen Kakkonen revealed that Polish workers are being paid less than a fifth of a Finnish labourer’s wages. The government-owned developer in charge of the site, Senaatti-kiinteistöt, said it had no idea this was going on.
"If this really turns out to be the case, then it is unacceptable," says Tuomo Dahl, head expert of Senaatti-kiinteistöt.
The Finnish Construction Trade Union, however, says that this is common practice particularly on governemnt sites. They say the problem lies not with the labour laws themselves, but in their supervision and application to foreign workers.
"I've wondered for a long time why state and municipal construction sites in particular allow such neglect of labour laws on their sites," says union chairman Matti Harjuniemi.