TALLINN — The Rovaniemi local of the Finnish Construction Trade Union protested Friday against Skanska’s plans to hire Estonian workers for a state-run construction project while 400 local construction workers are unemployed.

In a few weeks, the Swedish construction company Skanska is set to break ground on a Ministry of the Interior agency information technology center in the northern Finnish city. Skanska is about to [private_supervisor]hire 40 workers from Estonia to save on labor costs even though the Lapland region has more than 1,000 unemployed construction workers.

The issue has already reached the Finnish parliament, with Left Alliance union member Esko-Juhani Tennilä arguing that hiring cheap labor on state-run work site is inappropriate and suggested that the ministry intervenes. Whether the Eduskunta takes further action remains to be seen.

Heimo Lahtela of the Finnish Construction Trade Union said Skanska’s decision constitutes a misappropriation of state funds.

”When the government uses debt financing for economic stimulus, it must mean that these funds are used to employ Finnish workers. The purpose cannot be to pump money into shady foreign businesses through a complicated chain of construction firms,” Lahtela told the press.

Skanska EMV in Tallinn decided not to comment the issue. Sakari Jämsä, manager of the northern Finland Skanska subsidiary said that the Estonians are not being paid less than Finnish workers, so Finnish construction workers should not worry about a race to the bottom for wages to stay competitive.

“Wages that will be paid to the Estonians are in accordance with the Finnish collective labor agreement, even though the employees are working for the Estonian subsidiary Skanska EMV,” Jämsä told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper Friday.

Juha Hetemäki, the president of Skanska Finland said in an interview with Lapland Radio that Estonian workers are better workers and finding proper workforce from Lapland for 4.5 months is difficult. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]hire 40 workers from Estonia to save on labor costs even though the Lapland region has more than 1,000 unemployed construction workers.

The issue has already reached the Finnish parliament, with Left Alliance union member Esko-Juhani Tennilä arguing that hiring cheap labor on state-run work site is inappropriate and suggested that the ministry intervenes. Whether the Eduskunta takes further action remains to be seen.

Heimo Lahtela of the Finnish Construction Trade Union said Skanska’s decision constitutes a misappropriation of state funds.

”When the government uses debt financing for economic stimulus, it must mean that these funds are used to employ Finnish workers. The purpose cannot be to pump money into shady foreign businesses through a complicated chain of construction firms,” Lahtela told the press.

Skanska EMV in Tallinn decided not to comment the issue. Sakari Jämsä, manager of the northern Finland Skanska subsidiary said that the Estonians are not being paid less than Finnish workers, so Finnish construction workers should not worry about a race to the bottom for wages to stay competitive.

“Wages that will be paid to the Estonians are in accordance with the Finnish collective labor agreement, even though the employees are working for the Estonian subsidiary Skanska EMV,” Jämsä told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper Friday.

Juha Hetemäki, the president of Skanska Finland said in an interview with Lapland Radio that Estonian workers are better workers and finding proper workforce from Lapland for 4.5 months is difficult. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]hire 40 workers from Estonia to save on labor costs even though the Lapland region has more than 1,000 unemployed construction workers.

The issue has already reached the Finnish parliament, with Left Alliance union member Esko-Juhani Tennilä arguing that hiring cheap labor on state-run work site is inappropriate and suggested that the ministry intervenes. Whether the Eduskunta takes further action remains to be seen.

Heimo Lahtela of the Finnish Construction Trade Union said Skanska’s decision constitutes a misappropriation of state funds.

”When the government uses debt financing for economic stimulus, it must mean that these funds are used to employ Finnish workers. The purpose cannot be to pump money into shady foreign businesses through a complicated chain of construction firms,” Lahtela told the press.

Skanska EMV in Tallinn decided not to comment the issue. Sakari Jämsä, manager of the northern Finland Skanska subsidiary said that the Estonians are not being paid less than Finnish workers, so Finnish construction workers should not worry about a race to the bottom for wages to stay competitive.

“Wages that will be paid to the Estonians are in accordance with the Finnish collective labor agreement, even though the employees are working for the Estonian subsidiary Skanska EMV,” Jämsä told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper Friday.

Juha Hetemäki, the president of Skanska Finland said in an interview with Lapland Radio that Estonian workers are better workers and finding proper workforce from Lapland for 4.5 months is difficult. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]hire 40 workers from Estonia to save on labor costs even though the Lapland region has more than 1,000 unemployed construction workers.

The issue has already reached the Finnish parliament, with Left Alliance union member Esko-Juhani Tennilä arguing that hiring cheap labor on state-run work site is inappropriate and suggested that the ministry intervenes. Whether the Eduskunta takes further action remains to be seen.

Heimo Lahtela of the Finnish Construction Trade Union said Skanska’s decision constitutes a misappropriation of state funds.

”When the government uses debt financing for economic stimulus, it must mean that these funds are used to employ Finnish workers. The purpose cannot be to pump money into shady foreign businesses through a complicated chain of construction firms,” Lahtela told the press.

Skanska EMV in Tallinn decided not to comment the issue. Sakari Jämsä, manager of the northern Finland Skanska subsidiary said that the Estonians are not being paid less than Finnish workers, so Finnish construction workers should not worry about a race to the bottom for wages to stay competitive.

“Wages that will be paid to the Estonians are in accordance with the Finnish collective labor agreement, even though the employees are working for the Estonian subsidiary Skanska EMV,” Jämsä told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper Friday.

Juha Hetemäki, the president of Skanska Finland said in an interview with Lapland Radio that Estonian workers are better workers and finding proper workforce from Lapland for 4.5 months is difficult. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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