Yle investigates alleged exploitation of Chinese workers in Kotka

Authorities and the Finnish Industrial Union are investigating suspected labour exploitation involving Chinese workers at an electric battery materials plant construction site in Kotka, Yle reports. Yle has confirmed the identities of five workers and verified their accounts of employment contracts and pay statements.

The factory is being built by a partly Finnish state-owned Chinese-Finnish company and is expected to produce materials for electric vehicle batteries.

The workers say their wages were reduced by accommodation and meal costs, although these deductions were not included in their employment contracts. They also say they were threatened and pressured into signing an unlawful employment contract.

More than 300 Chinese workers have worked at the site during the summer. Many were recruited by a Chinese installation company and spoke only Chinese, leaving them unable to communicate in English or ask for help in Finland.

The workers say their official working day was eight hours, but they actually worked nine hours. They worked six days a week, with Sunday shifts also beginning to accumulate. Although overtime can be performed by agreement, the workers say they were given little practical choice.

They described receiving work instructions at short notice and having to accept sudden changes to their schedules. They also said they were working almost all the time.

The workers were initially employed by the temporary staffing company Eezy. Some later moved to a Chinese-owned installation company registered in Finland. Pay statements sent to Yle listed Eezy Sonire rather than the name of the Chinese employer known to the workers. The workers said they did not understand why their employer had changed.

Workers were accommodated in Kotka and Hamina, with the employer arranging transport to and from the construction site. Some were housed in small rooms shared by two to four people. They said they received three meals a day, while managers were given better food.

The workers were initially afraid to meet Yle, give their names or provide documents confirming that they worked at the site because they feared the information would reach their employer. Yle does not publish their names to protect their identities.

Under Finnish construction sector rules and guidance from the occupational safety authority, accommodation for assignments lasting more than a month should generally house no more than one person per room, with seven to 10 square metres of living space per person. Workers should also have access to shared living space, an equipped kitchen, sufficient toilets and showers, laundry facilities and a sauna.

Employers must also ensure that accommodation costs are not unreasonable and do not reduce a worker’s take-home pay below the level set by the relevant Finnish collective agreement. They are responsible for daily allowances, accommodation and occupational safety.