A union organiser, who has looked at bad practises in the strawberry trade during the summer, found out that the summer workers have no decent contracts, are being paid off the books, and have been the subject of threats and harassment. Besides, it was found that Spanish berries are being repacked and sold as Swedish products. The Kommunal trade union stated that around 20,000 workers from Poland, Lithuania, Rumania and Ukraine are picking berries in Sweden, for a few kronas per litre, while living in old mouldy caravans. But employers says that if the workers pick enough per day, they can make a wage similar to one from a collective bargaining agreement, and that while the caravans may be old, they are not mouldy.
English: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.