Published: 10 Aug 10 10:56 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/28282/20100810/
A group of Vietnamese berry pickers have left their place of employment in Baggård south of Umeå in northern Sweden in protest against their pay and working conditions and have expressed a wish to go home, local media have reported.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Four thieves who used internet dating sites to find their victims, in order to drug them with a concoction of sedatives and psychosis drugs and then rob them, were sentenced to prison on Wednesday by a Swedish court. READ () »
Swedish designers who fight for brand-name recognition in the notoriously hard-to-crack fashion business tell The Local's Victoria Hussey about the importance of the Swedish Rookies Award. READ () »
Sweden's central bank has appointed two new board members plucked from banking and academia to replace two outgoing members, one of whom was an outspoken critic of the Riksbank's commitment to the government's inflation goal. READ () »
A Swedish man has been left facing death after his doctor went on holiday, leaving a cancer diagnosis stranded in the computer system while the increasingly desperate patient fought for help elsewhere. READ () »
Police arrested eight people on Tuesday night as thirty cars were torched across southern and western Stockholm, in what was the third consecutive night of unrest in the Swedish capital. READ () »
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has buckled under the pressure of European competition and will turn off the switch on a cable production plant in Sweden, leaving 350 employees without jobs. READ () »
A man long referred to as Sweden's most notorious serial killer after being convicted of eight murders has been cleared of two more of the killings, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. READ () »
With summer around the corner and tourists already heading to the Swedish capital, part-time Stockholmer Erik Bloom shares the secrets of how to find the ten best places to visit in Stockholm that the average visitor may never find. READ () »
More news from Germany at thelocal.de
More news from France at thelocal.fr
More news from Norway at thelocal.no
More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
"A week full to the brim with LFC football…. Div 5 LFC match against Nåjdens FK has been moved. This is due to the Svenska Cupen final: 26 May, 17.00 kick off, Nationalarenan Friends Arena, Solna. Next match is on Tuesday (see below). ………………………………………………………… Friday: Div5 Ladies: Rotebro IS FF – Långholmen FC (Skinnaråsens IP) KO: 16.15 ………………………………………………………… Saturday: Vets: Långholmen FC – IFK..." READ »
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
dont think sweden is dream land and ppl will be millionaire.nothing in sweden,as i am IT professional since 1 year i have not get no job in sweden even though they dont call you for the interview.even thier own ppl if you see IT technician job for example own ppl education is high school and he is IT technician .technician cannt do research he is only technicain. here is sweden very foreign qualified bt they give preference to the refugee
I'm sorry but do you speak Swedish? A lot of people are very quick to dismiss Sweden when they come here and fail to get work within their chosen profession, however if you do not speak fluent Swedish, and want to work for a Swedish company I think it is fair that you will have difficulties in finding work.
ppl cann't just come and get in a different culture. You should show respect to the local culture in the first place. If ur employers and customers cann't even communicate with u in a convinient way, how could they expect and trust your profession and loyalty.
Perhaps you should read the last sentence again
"the minimum salary is insufficient, producing evidence that in some cases it is hardly enough to cover the money the workers have to shell out for things like plane tickets, housing and car rental."
- most of these workers are being charged around 16,000 SEK in expenses that they must pay back to the employer - the press in Dalarna got hold of a contract and this was the amount of deductions
- the salary is not guaranteed either - these are productivty contracts - you must pick the 'standard' amount to earn 16K per month - the standard in the contract seen by Dalarnas Tidning was 90kg of blueberries - per day! I don't know if you have ever picked the tiny woodland blueberries but 90kg per day is insance
These guys will end up in debt - the contracts are a scam - but there are still gullible people who believe you net paid 16,000SEK for picking bluberries
@summo
This is because the employers have abolutely no intention of paying anything near 16K - they intend to pay 1-2K - How many students do you knoe who will work for 300SEK ($25) per week? - the contract seen by the media last week was for 17,000SEK and decidctions were 16,000
One of the big scams this year is that the berry companies have hired abandoned school buildings
they pay peanuts to rent these buildings (maybe 10000 max as not all have fire certificates) - however they 'charge' hotel rates of 150kr per day (in the contract the newspaper say) or about 5000 per month - so for the group of 200 on strike - they get to withhold 1million in salary
"been provided with contracts guaranteeing them a monthly wage of at least 16,372 kronor ($2,321)."
Where i come from the word "guarantee" and "contract" mean EVERYTHING.
So your saying when an immigrant signs a contract in Sweden GUARENTEEING certain benefits,wages, and rights, that the employer has "no intentions of paying it" is allowed and not a breach of contract?
If i had my contract broken i wouldn't be striking i would be in court.
i am sure there are a lot of loop holes for the benefit of the employer but why? and why is it allowed?
Swedish A-kassan has 200.000 people that can pick berries instead imo.
I think it is easier for people here just to sit at home and play on the playstation and lift benefits.
Of course the contract must says that you get the minimum wage, and you are GUARANTEED to get this money. Somewhere else on this contract it also says that you have to pay some fee to the employer in order to get this contract. This fee consists of the flight ticket, food and loungding, which is like 90% of the salary you get, effectively reducing your salary to a fraction of the written sum. The employers were counting on that. In the end they paid next to nothing to each berry picker. breaching contract is not allowed in Sweden. However, the berry pickers are not properly informed of the working condition. And most of these workers tend to be uneducated. If they knew how to bring the case to the court in Sweden or Vietnamn, then they would definitely do it. The only reason this kind of scam has gone unnoticed for so long is because nobody stood up against it. My speculations is that when the berry pickers from last year went home with massive debt instead of profit, they told their countrymen about what happened here. The berry pickers this year have become much more vigilant.
On a side note, you can't pick berry all year long. The harvesting season usually lasts little over a month.