Berry pickers from Thailand refuse to leave Finland

[KhunMoo]

Finland is a nice country. A regular worker has a much higher standard of living than in Thailand so quite obvious that many would not like to return.

Not compaired to the other Scandinavian countries. For instance, a worker in a supermarked will only earn 300 baht an hour in Finland, and about 650 baht an hour in Denmark...maybe even more in Norway.

And here we are talking absolute minimum wages....

It really puts the U.S and UK into perspective. - 1.World countries, my ###

[jbrain]

Finland is a nice country. A regular worker has a much higher standard of living than in Thailand so quite obvious that many would not like to return.

Not compaired to the other Scandinavian countries. For instance, a worker in a supermarked will only earn 300 baht an hour in Finland, and about 650 baht an hour in Denmark...maybe even more in Norway.

And here we are talking absolute minimum wages....

It really puts the U.S and UK into perspective. - 1.World countries, my ###

And have you also taken in consideration the difference in cost of living in those three Scandinavian countries?

[KhunMoo]

Finland is a nice country. A regular worker has a much higher standard of living than in Thailand so quite obvious that many would not like to return.

Not compaired to the other Scandinavian countries. For instance, a worker in a supermarked will only earn 300 baht an hour in Finland, and about 650 baht an hour in Denmark...maybe even more in Norway.

And here we are talking absolute minimum wages....

It really puts the U.S and UK into perspective. - 1.World countries, my ###

And have you also taken in consideration the difference in cost of living in those three Scandinavian countries?

Yes - on 650 Baht an hour, with a 160 hour work month, you are able to survive in Denmark.... Not in luxury, but still able to buy what you need. On top of that Schools, High-Schools and universities and all hospitals are free.

And when you study the state pay you a scholarship (Apx. 33.000 baht/month) And you do not have to pay it back - on top you can lend 12.000 baht/month, that you pay back when you get a job).

You can even bring that money to study here of you like.

In U.S. and UK the salary's for they working-class is ridiculous....

[Timwin]

Not compaired to the other Scandinavian countries. For instance, a worker in a supermarked will only earn 300 baht an hour in Finland, and about 650 baht an hour in Denmark...maybe even more in Norway.

And here we are talking absolute minimum wages....

It really puts the U.S and UK into perspective. - 1.World countries, my ###

List of countries by gross domestic product at purchasing power parity per capita

Norway: 55,009 dollars

USA: 49900

Sweden: 41,191

Germany: 39 000

Denmark : 37,657

UK: 36,941

Finland: 36,395

Not much difference between Finland, Denmark or UK...

[jbrain]

Finland is a nice country. A regular worker has a much higher standard of living than in Thailand so quite obvious that many would not like to return.

Not compaired to the other Scandinavian countries. For instance, a worker in a supermarked will only earn 300 baht an hour in Finland, and about 650 baht an hour in Denmark...maybe even more in Norway.

And here we are talking absolute minimum wages....

It really puts the U.S and UK into perspective. - 1.World countries, my ###

And have you also taken in consideration the difference in cost of living in those three Scandinavian countries?

Yes - on 650 Baht an hour, with a 160 hour work month, you are able to survive in Denmark.... Not in luxury, but still able to buy what you need. On top of that Schools, High-Schools and universities and all hospitals are free.

And when you study the state pay you a scholarship (Apx. 33.000 baht/month) And you do not have to pay it back - on top you can lend 12.000 baht/month, that you pay back when you get a job).

You can even bring that money to study here of you like.

In U.S. and UK the salary's for they working-class is ridiculous....

I think you didn't get my point.

In Finland you don't need that 650 Bht / hour, since you can have the same living standard as in Denmark with only 300 Bht /hour

[Wat dee]

Can it really be that huge difference in minimum wages, in same region?? Finland-Denmark.

[puukao]

I think stories should just include the title, and then we can make up the "facts". In this case, it's very simple.

Either 1) They love finland, snow, people, and are getting super rich.

2) feel exploited, mad, want their money, working too hard, upset.

hmmm......it's a toss up.

This is one cruel world. I feel bad for the millions who really must work very hard for little or no money. And then you have someone born into wealth and will likely, not always, never understand such hardship.

[soomak]

Finland is a nice country. A regular worker has a much higher standard of living than in Thailand so quite obvious that many would not like to return.

There seems to be more to it than that. Their employer must have tried to short them on something, so they started a protest, and now they're being shifted back home as their visas are terminated. Standard business tactic: no need to pay the last couple months of wages for migrant workers, as they'll be kicked out of the country at the end of their visa anyway and can't come back to pester you.

That's not completely correct.

At least in Israel, a foreign worker can sue his former employee from his own country, by using an Israeli lawyer. It happened many times, and many times ends in a settlement.

So these workers can probably sue their employer from Isan just as well, they just need to find a Finish lawyer that would take the case.

[soomak]

Oh, many years ago I also picked fruit which was paid by the basket/kg. It is perfectly normal that in this arrangement you make less money that with an hourly wage if you work in a normal speed. If you work harder/faster, then you can make a lot of money, lots more than an hourly wage.

Pick by KG/basket = work hard = earn a lot more money than hourly wage

Pick by KG/basket = work normal = earn less than normal hourly wage

Pick by KG/basket = work slow = earn a lot less than hourly wage

Basic economics.

<edit>

Oh, when I was working in the fields there were also some people complaining that their area was not good. We switched and still I made a lot more money then they did, although admittedly I did make less than in the previous field, but that kind of luck has a way of sorting itself out over an extended period of time, so those kind of excuses are mostly just that, excuses.

</edit>

I don't know about the Finish law, but in some countries it is illegal to pay less than the minimum wage.

So if these workers were slow, the only resort for the employer is to pay them a minimum wage for the hours they already worked, and send them home early.

[jbrain]

Oh, many years ago I also picked fruit which was paid by the basket/kg. It is perfectly normal that in this arrangement you make less money that with an hourly wage if you work in a normal speed. If you work harder/faster, then you can make a lot of money, lots more than an hourly wage.

Pick by KG/basket = work hard = earn a lot more money than hourly wage

Pick by KG/basket = work normal = earn less than normal hourly wage

Pick by KG/basket = work slow = earn a lot less than hourly wage

Basic economics.

<edit>

Oh, when I was working in the fields there were also some people complaining that their area was not good. We switched and still I made a lot more money then they did, although admittedly I did make less than in the previous field, but that kind of luck has a way of sorting itself out over an extended period of time, so those kind of excuses are mostly just that, excuses.

</edit>

I don't know about the Finish law, but in some countries it is illegal to pay less than the minimum wage.

So if these workers were slow, the only resort for the employer is to pay them a minimum wage for the hours they already worked, and send them home early.

Almost correct, other than the the fact, why would an employer be responsible for return flight of an employee that doesn't perform.

[KhunBENQ]

Same story every year without fail, thai people go to pick berry in some Nordic country,

thai people get cheated, big story big noise, lot of publicity, and the next year same

story all over again, the perpetual hard luck story and as long as there are berries

to pick, thai people will be cheated.

I have seen more then one documentary (in German language) about this cheating and exploitation of unsuspicious Thai workers.

Also in the past years many came back with dept.

Thailand should take care for its people and prevent people being sent to this exploiter.

Some really silly posts in this thread.

Arbitrary Google result:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/COMMENTARY+Berry+picking+-+the+darker+side/1135259588161

Edited September 18, 2013 by KhunBENQ

[Guest]

Here is some information about the Thai berry pickers situation over the years. I just got the English version from the Embassy.

I's a study conducted by University of Lapland and funded by Ministery of foreign affairs in Finland.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8216934/misc/Thai_Berry_Pickers_in_Finland.pdf

[Neeranam]

I left Thailand once to make big money in Finland in October. I was back by December. So bloody cold and the thing they have about silence is very unfriendly.

But they do love a drink and wonderful women - never been so popular anywhere, even here. But one morning going to work looking at the thermometer in central Helsinki at -15C I thought f+++ this

[hullupullo]

http://yle.fi/uutiset/prosecutor_rejects_berry_pickers_trafficking_complaint/6838111

News

18.9.2013 17:25| updated 18.9.2013 17:25
Prosecutor rejects berry pickers' trafficking complaint
The District prosecutor in Kajaani has decided not to investigate a human trafficking complaint from a group of 50 Thai berry pickers. He says the case does not bear the hallmarks of human trafficking—but both the pickers’ lawyer and the company that brought them to Finland say their dispute will continue.

Last week some 50 berry pickers filed a complaint alleging they were trafficked from Thailand to pick berries for Ber-Ex, a forest fruits company based in Kainuu. The prosecutor has rejected their complaint, saying that Ber-Ex had not forced them to work.

The pickers claimed to have borrowed large amounts of money at high interest rates to pay for their trip to Finland, and were otherwise unhappy about Ber-Ex’s actions towards the pickers. Their lawyer Ville Hoikkala says they are not about to give up their fight.

“I don’t understand this at all,” said Hoikkala. “We said to the police a week ago that we are collecting evidence in support of the complaint. We have documents and interviews to support our claims. The police knew that evidence was on the way, but called off their investigation anyway.”

He added that further action was likely, although he did not say exactly what form it would take. The Chief Executive of Ber-Ex, Kari Jansa, was of a similar opinion—he feels the berry pickers and their supporters have damaged his company’s reputation without justification.

“We will make a decision with our lawyer in the next couple of days on how we can sort this out,” said Jansa.