Pam Magazine: A company in the shadows

A bus brakes in the early hours of the night on a dark street as it approaches a narrow intersection. The turn left is awkward and slower than usual, because the driver has to work his way around a van parked on the corner of the pavement. At that moment, a group of men spill through the lit doorway of a ground-floor shop and climb into the van. The bus completes its awkward turn, leaving behind the van and a view of the sign on the shop: Super Moon Cleaning.

This image from nearly a year ago came back to me like a boomerang when Zuzeeko’s story arrived at our magazine’s office. This story is nothing new: the experiences of a foreign worker in Finnish working life, often from working in the cleaning industry. For a hardened reader, the story offers nothing terribly shocking. In fact, it’s quite plausible. But what if this all happened because of a lack of language skills or a misunderstanding arising from cultural differences? 

Let’s scratch the surface a little. A few years ago, a pay claims report submitted to the Helsinki office of Service Union United PAM fell through because the timid employee withdrew the claim. A few other Super Moon Cleaning (SMC) employees were in the process of taking their case to court, with the help of the union, but these cases also came to nothing. Union official at PAM, Bo Jansson, is under the impression that these employees were threatened.

The police conducted a surprise inspection at SMC last spring, but nothing illegal was detected. However, several reports have been made to the police concerning the payment of wages and working hours. Some of these are under investigation, while others have been submitted to the prosecutor for consideration of charges. On the basis of a statement provided by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland, Prosecutor Sinikka Paasivirta will decide whether to bring charges, against whom, and for what crimes. Until then, the details of the cases remain strictly confidential.

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland has conducted five occupational safety inspections at SMC during 2009–2012. According to the report drafted on the basis of an inspection carried out in July 2012, SMC’s employees have defective work permits and have not received Sunday pay, and even their base salary is below the minimum wage limit set in the collective agreement for the facilities services sector.

A source from the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland says that several employees have contacted the agency regarding occupational safety issues and talked about the problems they have encountered in their employment relationship. On the basis of some of the cases, the occupational safety inspector has submitted requests for preliminary police examinations, while certain cases have simply ballooned: despite requests, the employer has not submitted any employment contracts, for example, and more careful examinations have revealed work discrimination, suspicious dismissal procedures, and unpaid wages. According to the Finnish Trade Register’s files, updated in December, the company has only one person who is authorised to represent the company: a man with a foreign name.

It was precisely the inspection report of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland concerning the use of foreign workforce that was the deciding factor in preventing any SMC employees from cleaning the classrooms of schools in Espoo.

"The report showed the company’s systematic disregard for labour legislation and social obligations," says Timo Martelius, Director, Public Procurement, the City of Espoo.

Within the scope of the fair competition action plan drafted in early 2012, the City of Espoo has been striving to sharpen its policy outlines for shadow economy.

"It was clear that Espoo had to take action against SMC."

Nevertheless, there is still a recruitment notice on SMC’s website seeking cleaning staff for schools and day care centres in Espoo.

The news astonishes Martelius.

"This really should be removed."

 Sini Saaritsa