PM for legal reform to end abuse of workers

Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Sunday emphasised the necessity of bringing changes to the law and strengthening public authorities to take proper measures against abuse of workers in the country’s labour market.

Her remarks followed a report run by the Finnish language daily Helsingin Sanomat, which disclosed a number of incidents of abuse of workers in the cleaning sector.

“The situation in the Finnish labour market, where workers are being abused frequently in a systematic way is completely unstable. We need to bring change to law and strengthen the authorities to overcome the situation,” Marin wrote in a Twitter post in Finnish, expressing her reaction to the report on abuse of workers.

She said the government wants to improve the situation of the most vulnerable group in the labour market.

“Significant improvements, such as adequate means for supervisors to address underpayment and other shortcomings and entitle them to take actions [are necessary],” the prime minister added in her twitter post.

In the investigative report, the Helsingin Sanomat said some of the victims described their situation as inhuman and reminiscent of human trafficking.

Based on the interviews with dozens of cleaning workers and employers, the report said that workers very often need to deal with overly-long working days, insufficient breaks, and no time off.

It found massive irregularities in treatment f workers by cleaning firms that provide services to municipal schools and daycare centres.

The cleaning companies engage many immigrant-background people and refugees who may not necessarily be aware of workers’ rights, job contracts or labour laws.

They are generally supposed to be afraid of losing their jobs, which may cause their deportation, if they complain against the abuse, the Helsingin Sanomat report added.