Subcontractor at Helsinki state project linked to Estonian organised crime

A subcontractor suspected of violating employment terms at a state-commissioned construction project in Helsinki has links to Estonian organised crime, Yle reports, citing an investigation by the Finnish news agency STT. A man who was part of the leadership of another company suspected of misconduct this year was previously charged in a major human trafficking case. Those charges were dismissed in 2023.

The Construction Workers’ Union said on Wednesday that it had found 30 so-called false entrepreneurs at a school construction site in Ruskeasuo, Helsinki. They were paid less than the minimum set by the collective agreement, the union said, and received no supplements. Their basic pay was at trainee level.

The workers included people from Ukraine, Russia and Estonia, union senior adviser Toni Malmström told STT. The subcontractor has refused to cooperate, Malmström said, and the union is demanding that the main contractor pay the missing wages.

Senate Properties, the state enterprise that commissioned the renovation, said it takes the allegations seriously, is cooperating with the union and is investigating the case.

The union said it had sent information about the case to the Tax Administration, police, the Licensing and Supervisory Agency and the Finnish Immigration Service.