Many Construction Companies Using Illegal Labour

Finland's construction industry is often criticized for using cheap illegal labour and sometimes circumventing stringent Finnish labour laws. Illegal workers - especially from the Baltics and Russia but from as far away as China - frequently slip into the system. Most of these employees work under sub-standard contracts with few benefits.

These latest inspections revealed that a fifth of construction companies couldn't guarantee that all of their foreign labour was above-board.

Keijo Päivärinta, one of the labour inspectors, says the actual situation is probably much worse, because the companies they looked into were well-known outfits. Smaller, less visible companies are more likely to rely on illegal labour, he said.

This recurring problem is a thorn in the side of the Finnish Construction Trade Union. Their officials point out that tens of thousands of qualified Finnish construction workers are unemployed. Even more importantly, they say, the same benefits, rights, and job security must be extended to all labourers in Finland, regardless of nationality.