Yle uncovers suspected exploitation of Chinese workers in Kotka factory project

Serious allegations of labour exploitation have emerged at the construction site of an battery materials factory in Kotka, according to Yle. Chinese workers were reportedly pressured to sign an unlawful contract, while some allegedly saw their employer changed from a Finnish company to a Chinese one without being informed.

The new contract allows wages paid in Finland to be reclaimed after workers return to China. It also bans “fraudulent and hostile” pay claims, “false” and “groundless” complaints, and unilateral resignation. Breaches could result in the loss of all wages earned in Finland and other compensation.

Chinese Finnish factory company Easpring Finland New Materials is building the plant in Keltakallio, Kotka. The facility is expected to produce cathode active material for the electric vehicle industry and will cost about 800 million euros. The company is mainly Chinese-owned, with Finnish state-owned Finnish Mineral Group holding a stake.

About 300 Chinese workers have worked at the construction site during the summer. The Industrial Union, which represents Chinese equipment installers, is investigating several issues connected to the project.

“The contract is completely unlawful, and there are extremely serious elements of labour exploitation here,” said Tapio Anttila, a regional official at the Industrial Union. He said the union suspected that the problems affected Chinese workers at the site more broadly.

The workers initially came to the project through the Finnish temporary staffing company Eezy. According to Yle, some fixed-term contracts with Eezy were originally due to remain valid until the end of 2026, but some workers were allegedly dismissed unexpectedly.

Jani Suominen, director of Eezy’s entrepreneur services, said the company had not dismissed any workers.

“Some employees who worked on the Kotka project have resigned on their own initiative. Workers have also transferred as planned during the project to become employees of the client company,” Suominen said.

According to Suominen, Eezy is responsible for paying wages, statutory insurance and occupational healthcare. The client company is responsible for practical employer duties such as induction, supervision and organising the work.

The site is also monitored by the Permits and Supervisory Agency. Suominen said Eezy had not been informed of shortcomings requiring significant corrective action.

Easpring Finland said the problems concerned workers employed by a Chinese-owned installation company. Vesa Koivisto, the company’s commercial director, said the busiest phase of construction had passed and Chinese workers had begun returning home.

Some installation workers were offered follow-up contracts with the Chinese company after their Eezy contracts ended.

“A disagreement arose with about 20 returning workers over issues related to their employment contracts. The subcontractor went through the situation with them, and an agreement was reached in the discussions. Most have left Finland,” Koivisto said.

China Harbour Engineering Company, the project’s Chinese main contractor, said the matter had resulted from a misunderstanding and had now been settled.

Yle said it had tried for about two weeks to interview the Chinese installation company by phone and email, but had received no response.

Eezy said the workers had followed the collective agreement for the construction sector. The agreement states that workers may be transferred to the client company during their employment.

The Construction Trade Union said a fixed-term contract also binds the employer.