Thread: The 2009 Blueberry Fiasco in Sweden

Have you ever even been to rural Thailand Jet?

My wife's uncle does the Finnish berry picking. He pays out 70,000 Baht for the 3 months season. He then expects to bring home 70,000 Baht. Things can't be that bad as he does it annually.

Thai berry pickers head home empty handed
3 Oct 10

Around 135 Thai berry pickers left Åsele in Sweden's north on Saturday evening to return to Thailand empty handed after the owners of their employer, Lömjsö Bär, allegedly emptied the firm of cash and fled.

• Red Cross sends aid to freezing berry pickers (21 Aug 10)
• Union blames ministers for berry pickers' plight (12 Aug 10)
• Berry pickers arrested for locking up bosses (11 Aug 10)

The majority of the 160 Thai people who have spent the past two months working for the firm have decided to give up their fight to be paid for their work, having received only 6,000 kronor ($894).

"38 Thais have chosen to stay to try to get their salaries," said Dan Andersson at Umeå police on Saturday evening.

When back in Thailand the berry pickers face an uncertain future, with many having borrowed substantial sums to travel to Sweden for the season.

"They are in dire straits. The embassy is seeing to it that they get home but they have been fooled out of everything they own," said interpreter Tomas Hasser to local newspaper Västerbottens Kuriren.

The atmosphere among the berry pickers became heated at times with police in attendance.

Most of the berry pickers will fly out to Thailand on Sunday, while the remaining few are booked on flights on October 11th.

The CEO of Lömsjö Bär AB, Ari Hallikanen, is meanwhile suspected of financial crimes after having allegedly emptied the firm of its cash and fled Sweden. No official criminal investigation has however yet been opened against him or chairperson Olle Andersson regarding Åsele.

Hallikanen has a series of bankruptcies behind him, and in 2007 faced charges of assault involving berry pickers in Hälsingland.

Lömsjö Bär was the firm which was involved in a highly publicised fight in Särna in the summer involving Vietnamese berry pickers. The argument led to the arrest of several berry pickers after they locked in their supervisors.

thelocal.se

see also : https://teakdoor.com/issues/75434-the...in-sweden.html

see also : https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...ml#post1570705

Berry Pickers Recieved by Minister
05.10.2010

Thai berry pickers who arrived Monday morning from Sweden were received in the airport by Thailand's Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Mr Issara Somchai.


The Thai ministry will seek to arrange for a cheap loan so the workers can pay back the high interest loans they have taken to go to Sweden.

The minister told them the good news that an arrest warrant had already been issued for their Thai agent, Mr Phumkacha Nakham from Chaiyaphum province. Mr Issara Somchai explained to reporters present in the airport, that it was Mr Phumkacha Nakham who had sent them to Sweden to work for two months under false pretence.

The arrest order for Mr Phumkacha was issued because he had not registered a company in Thailand and had taken the group to Sweden on tourist visas. Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Mr Issara Somchai said, the money which the pickers claimed to be returned to them had to wait for the arrest of Mr. Phumkacha.

Mr Phumkacha Nakham was previously a berry picker himself but promoted himself as an agent for the berry picking in Sweden. The full group of 155 people had each paid him 78000 Baht to cover the travel arrangement including the visa application. He had promised them that they would get per month 16,372 Swedish kroner or 73.000 baht on a two and a half month contract.

A representative from the Ministry of Labour said that the ministry will seek to arrange for a cheap loan so the workers could pay back the high interest loans they had taken to pay Mr. Phumkacha for their travel cost.

Original news source: à¹�รงงานไทยในสวีเดภ™ 117 คนà¸�ลับบ้านขà¸[at]ความช่วยเหลืà¸[at]หลังนายหน้าหลà¸[at]à¸�

scandasia.com

Swedish Work Permits on the Black Market
06.11.2010


Many employers, often with foreign background themselves, use this situation to sell work permits without even offering a job. This according to daily Dagens Nyheter's economy section through a man who wants to be anonymous. The man showed a homepage for Russian speakers in Sweden. Here, companies advertise openly that they sell for example eight Swedish work permits.

The current Swedish government´s plan for labour immigration to Sweden, has become a lucrative business for unscrupulous employers in Sweden. They can charge immigrants with up to 30,000 crowns for a work permit, and then they still don´t guarantee a job. This writes Dagens Nyheter today.

The berry pickers from Thailand or Vietnam who had trouble this summer are far from alone. Many employers in Sweden exploit the situation with desperate people who are willing to do anything to get a work- and residence permit in Sweden. Some demand sexual services and others demand money.

Many employers, often with foreign background themselves, use this situation to sell work permits without even offering a job. This according to daily Dagens Nyheter's economy section through a man who wants to be anonymous. The man showed a homepage for Russian speakers in Sweden. Here, companies advertise openly that they sell for example eight Swedish work permits.

Many are prepared to pay for the temporary work- and residence permit. It provides possibilities to a Swedish id, a bank account, to drive a car, study Swedish for immigrants and to get a first-hand contract on a flat. With this permit, they have three months to find another legal employer. If they fail, they can stay a work in the black market for two years.

Unreasonable work permits

Some employers issue an unreasonable number of work permits. This is the opinion of both the Migration Board and the unions.

From one street food stand in Stockholm, the union received ten applications in only three months. The employer has only three employees. All of the would-be jobs were about 'peeling and cutting vegetables'. The person who leases the street food stand says to Dagens Nyheter that he had no idea about this.

Another street food stand in Kista north Stockholm, without any employees at all, sent applications of work permits in August. The same number of applications came from a café in Kista with only three employees.

The legal buro Issa Habil Juristbyrå, which has assisted the three mentioned street food stands with their applications says to Dagens Nyheter that it is not his responsibility to judge whether or not an application is reasonable in relation to the size of the company.

Also a problem in the construction branch

Also in the construction business this is a problem. The number of immigrant workers from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Philippines has increased strongly.

Some companies in the branch, offer wages which are only the half the settled wage according to the collective agreement.

Original news source: Swedish work permits are for sale on the black market - Stockholm News

scandasia.com

one of the sister inlaws lives in finland and she decided to take another sister over to make a quid picking these berries??oh thats great thought all the familly,earn some big bucks and visit the sister etc etc,very exciting for all concerned.the little rag didnt pick a single berry.instead she decided to strap this useless unemployed finnish gentleman on.
not only did she strap him on for 3 months ,she strapped him on for FREE ???
(thai hubby wasnt impressed)

When you invite a guest, he needs to be taken care of.

Is that so?

26 Thai Berry Pickers Stranded in Sweden
14 December 2010

The blueberry-picking season has come and gone, but a group of 156 Thai blueberry pickers still hasn’t been paid by their boss.

Angry and defiant, 26 of the workers won’t go home.

But it’s a long journey.

That’s because the pickers aren’t in Thailand, they’re in Sweden and the group refuses to return home without their money.

Rungrudee Phimbaep sips a bowl of noodles, watching a Thai music video. Outside the snow is deep and the sky is still dark, though it’s close to 9 am. It’s minus 18 degrees celcius.

She explains that Sweden isn’t what she expected this year.

“I came to Sweden expecting a good salary like the recruiters promised me. I’ve been here four times already. Last year I went back with about 3300 US dollars. This year I convinced six people to join me. But look at all of us here. We’ve gotten absolutely nothing.”

Rungrudee is a blueberry picker. In August she was part of a group of 156 Thai migrant workers that came to Sweden to pick blueberries for the Lomsjo berry company. But in September Lomsjö declared bankruptcy and the founder disappeared with half a million dollars of workers’ wages.

A month ago 130 in her group returned to Thailand with no money, but Rungrudee isn’t going anywhere without compensation. She and the 25 other Thai pickers refuse to go back to Thailand without getting paid in full.

Birds chirp in the snowy forest. The little village of Åsele, nestled in the snow covered hills of northern Sweden, is now the workers’ home.

They are staying in an old school house. All they can do is eat, sleep, and wait.

Tomas Hassel is the translator and coordinator for Lomsjö Berry. He hasn’t gotten paid either, and he’s angry. He has a Thai wife and he encouraged her family members to come work in Sweden.

“They worked so hard. Amazing people. They have debts back home. They’ve been putting up their land and homes to get money to come to Sweden. Now they go back home and get the paper in their hand that says they’re going to take the house. This is a tragedy. I feel sick when I think about it.”

Lomsjö stole salaries not only from Hassel and the Thais, but also from hundreds of Bangladeshi, Vietnamese and Chinese berry pickers. In another Swedish village, a group of cheated Vietnamese berry pickers were so outraged that they tied up employees of the recruitment company. The criminal charges were later dropped.

The growing abandoned worker phenomenon in Sweden is partly the result of a new law, pushed through by immigration authorities last year. The law guarantees seasonal workers a minimum monthly salary of two thousand five hundred dollars.

That may sound good. But recruiters and berry companies have used this law to lure Asian workers to Sweden, getting them to lay out their own money for the plane fare. No one is really sure if and when the government will pay out the salary guarantee to the cheated workers.

I went to meet with the highest government official in Åsele, district council head Bert-Rune Dahlberg, to ask him how the Lomsjö case is going.

“I completely understand why the Thai workers refuse to leave until they’re paid. We’re trying to speed up the bankruptcy case and see how much money we can get for the workers.”

But the wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly in Sweden, and the Thai workers still haven’t seen any money from the government.

At the popular village meeting place, Eva’s Restaurant, I find a group of locals eating traditional soup, pancakes and berries. The village has come together to help the Thai workers. Gustaf Larsson, the village priest, says he’s received winter coats and money for the pickers.

“These people need support so the Swedish church here opened a bank account for those villagers who wanted to help the Thai workers. We haven’t gotten in as much money as we hoped. I think people are waiting for the government to sort this out. “

Bert-Rune Dahlberg of the district council says he’s pushing for a law like they have in Finland to help foreign workers, ensuring that they receive an advance payment before the berry picking begins.

For now though, he just shakes his head, looking out in the direction of the schoolhouse where the Thais wait patiently.

“The situation is untenable. To sit there with nothing to do, waiting every day for the answer “when will we get paid?”, it has to be really hard for them mentally. In reality this is slavery. These workers here and in the future must have salary security. Sweden, which is such a rich, and respected country shouldn’t be involved with in something where people are being tricked and cheated.”

With night falling, I meet up with four Thai women on their way back from shopping in Åsele. They’re so bundled up in their oversized winter clothes, gifts from the Asele villagers, that I can hardly see their faces. They race into the warmth of the schoolhouse.

In the kitchen I find Wutikorn Premjai chopping onions and preparing dinner for the group. The food was also donated by neighbors in Asele.

“I don’t know how can I say. How can I speak about that feeling from inside. When sweden people come here and give food and give some money, medicine, clothes. They know we just wait and wait.”

The smell of curry chicken wafts in the air as a young worker named Bunthai pops a Thai video into the video player. She sings along.

Wutikorn says he’s confident that in the end he and the other Thai workers will be compensated. And if new laws are enacted to protect him, he says he may even come back to Sweden.

“All the Swedish people ask us “if we get the money will we come back next year and pick berries or not?” All of us say sure. We’re very sure. We will come.”

Asia Calling has just learned that the Thais have decided to accept money from the Swedish government, a lot less than half than what they are owed - and they are heading home today.

Asia Calling will bring you their story from Thailand in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the founder of Lomsjo berry - and the half a million dollars of the workers’ wages - are still missing.


Ari Hallikanen stole the money from the berry pickers and has according to Thai immigration authorities entered Thailand. If anyone sees him, please report immediately to gregers[at]scandasia.com

Original news source: http://www.asiacalling.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1761: thai-berry-pickers-stranded-in-northern-sweden&catid=104:thailand&Itemid=382〈=en

scandasia.com

Have i read this right ?
The Swedish gangmaster fled with the Thai workers wages...to Thailand !

University to Chart Situation with Berry-pickers
17 January 2011

The University of Lapland is planning to carry out research into the situation of foreign nationals working in Finland as seasonal berry-pickers.

Each summer around 2,500 Thais, among others, enter Finland to work as seasonal pickers of wild berries. The idea of the planned study is to chart the Thai berry-pickers’ position in Finland as well as back in Thailand.

The researchers are interested in finding out, for example, how the berry-pickers finance their journey to Finland.

In addition, the local authorities’ activities in the country of origin, the visa application process, and possible characteristics of illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings will be looked into.

The portion of the study that deals with Finland concentrates on the Thai berry-pickers' working and living conditions.

Also under scrutiny will be the seasonal berry-pickers’ relationship with the Finnish companies that invite them into the country, and with Finnish society as a whole.


Each summer around 2,500 Thais, among others, enter Finland to work as seasonal pickers of wild berries. The idea of the planned study is to chart the Thai berry-pickers’ position in Finland as well as back in Thailand. The researchers are interested in finding out, for example, how the berry-pickers finance their journey to Finland.

Original news source: Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Home

scandasia.com

Tougher Rules to Protect Sweden's Berry Pickers
09 April 2011

The Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) has tightened regulations for hiring seasonal berry pickers ahead of the 2011 season. The reason for the change is to improve working conditions and clarify the responsibilities of Swedish employers who seek the services of migrant labourers to help with the berry harvest.

“It is not acceptable that people come to Sweden for work and then become exploited. An individual´s right to reasonable conditions must prevail over any special interests,” Jonas Lindgren, Head of Division at The Swedish Migration Board said in a statement.

After several years of scandals involving guest workers imported to Sweden to pick berries in the north of the country the situation came to a head after a disastrous season in 2009, with many berry pickers heading home weighed down by debt instead of profits.

In 2010 the pickers were for the first time provided with contracts guaranteeing them a monthly wage of at least 16,372 kronor ($2,321).
But unions warned that the minimum salary was insufficient, pointing out that it in some cases it was hardly enough to cover the plane tickets, housing and car rental.

In 2010, many berry pickers again found themselves in quite a jam after harvests proved disappointing and the season was characterised by protests and scandals.

In August, Vietnamese guest workers staged two demonstrations against their working conditions and there were reports of ravenous berry pickers shooting wild fowl for food.

In October the press reported that 135 berry pickers had been forced to return to Thailand empty handed after the owners of their employer allegedly emptied the firm of cash and fled.

“The most important thing is that we together with other involved authorities and organizations do what we can so that last year´s situation will not be repeated,” said Lindgren.

New guidelines for the employers will mean that berry pickers can only be hired by a foreign company that has an affiliate in Sweden.

It is this Swedish affiliate company which will be held responsible for following the work conditions in the contracts.

Further, the company has to be able to prove that they can pay the berry pickers’ salaries even if the harvest is poor.

They must also show that they have informed the pickers both of what kind of job they will be carrying out and of the work conditions involved.



In August, Vietnamese guest workers staged two demonstrations against their working conditions and there were reports of ravenous berry pickers shooting wild fowl for food. In October the press reported that 135 berry pickers had been forced to return to Thailand empty handed after the owners of their employer allegedly emptied the firm of cash and fled.

Original news source: Tougher rules to protect Sweden's berry pickers - The Local

scandasia.com

Thailand urges its labour to berry-pick in Scandinavia
Sippachai Kunnuwong
13 November 2012

Thai Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap has encouraged Thai labours to work in the Scandinavian countries during their berry harvesting season, assuring approximately 100,000 baht monthly income.



Padermchai has disclosed Labour Ministry's annual performance on Tuesday in which sending Thai labours to work abroad has become one of the Ministry's main strategies.

According to the Minister, 60,000 Thais are registered to be working as berry-pickers in the Scandinavian countries.

“Thai labours have outdone other nationalities at work because they collect berries the most,” said Padermchai .

“In Sweden, Thai labours are being sought-after because they are hard-working and honest.

“It's a sign that the Swedes have good attitude towards Thai labours, thus we should continue to expand the relationship and job opportunities in the country,” he added.

The Minister also stated that the Ministry's strict regulations to prevent unfair treatment from recruitment agencies will assure the labours that they will be looked after and are guaranteed of an approximately 100,000 monthly income.

“Thai labours will return home after 3 months with 300,000 baht in their pockets,” he said.

scandasia.com

I bet these people are being fucked over by their own kind. It's usually always the case..

The "Agents" etc etc.

Same thing happens in the UK. Foreigners being exploited by their own people,
Illegal Immigrants working for £3 an hour for some Indian
Polish Hotel Managers employing illegals for little money

Originally Posted by Mid

“Thai labours will return home after 3 months with 300,000 baht in their pockets,” he said.

My wife's uncle has been doing this now for about 4 years. After food, flight ticket, lodgings etc he clears 100,000 Baht. Whether the agents are shafting him seems incidental as he's happy enough with what he gets.

100,000baht a month is around £2000.

I'd do that!

^ That's 'Gross'

Originally Posted by Bower

Have i read this right ?
The Swedish gangmaster fled with the Thai workers wages...to Thailand !

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...rseas-job.html (Chon Buri: Swede arrested for overseas job scam)

Labour ministry to help unpaid Thai berry pickers in Sweden
Thammarat Kijchalong
October 8, 2013

Employment Department would provide assistance to the 240 Thais who did not get paid according to the contract for berry-picking works in Sweden to sue their employers.

Its director general Prawit Kiangpol said the Thai workers would take legal action against their employers at the Central Labour Court.

They would seek court order for the employer to pay the overdue payments.

The workers had filed complaints to the Labour Ministry, claiming they didn’t get full payment as said in the working contract.

A total of 6,100 Thai workers had got berry-picking works in Sweden for two months via employment agencies. However 240 of them did not get full payment, they staged protests and fled the camp.

The case would be brought to the Central Labour Court because the employers insisted they would pay the overdue payments based on the amount of berries picked - which wasn’t equivalent to the income guaranteed in the contract of at least Bt85,000 a month.

Prawit affirmed the department would be on the workers’ side in the court battle.

"As measures to prevent such problems, the department will consult with Swedish and Finland governments about how many workers they needed for berry picking. They would be urged to issue the visas according to the numbers.

nationmultimedia.com