We’ve got people lined up behind the door: Placing the trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers in context in the restaurant and cleaning sectors in Finland. 2nd ed.

By Natalia Ollus, Anniina Jokinen

HEUNI’S SECOND STUDY on exploitation of migrant workers and trafficking in persons for the purpose of forced labour was published in 2013. The report “We’ve got people lined up behind the door”: Placing the Trafficking and Exploitation of Migrant Workers in Context in the Restaurant and Cleaning Sectors in Finland was prepared as part of an EU-funded project looking into the issue in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden. The study was a follow-up to HEUNI’s first study on the topic, launched two years earlier, and aimed at providing a more in-depth analysis of selected sectors, recruitment methods and the business model of exploitation in Finland. In addition to research, the project organized multi stakeholder meetings to establish a dialogue between key labour actors. It also produced the first set of concrete guidelines for employers and recruitment agencies and other actors for the prevention of trafficking for forced labour and labour exploitation. The report kickstarted HEUNI’s work with businesses and corporate social responsibility, a topic which is today a core theme in HEUNI’s work and services. The report found that most migrant workers coming to Finland seek work due to economic reasons and many are willing to compromise regarding the employment and the working conditions, as long as they can earn more than at home. Recruitment of migrant workers in the restaurant and cleaning sectors is carried out either via recruitment and employment service companies or via relatives, acquaintances and word-of-mouth. The study uncovered several cases where migrant workers paid unreasonably high recruitment and placement fees in order to secure a job in Finland. Different forms of underpayment of wages were common, often in connection with poor terms of employment, irregular or excessive working hours, and difficult working conditions. The study argued that many of the exploited workers seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of disclosing their experiences of exploitation to the authorities versus the risk of losing their job, their means of income and perhaps even their residence right if they disclosed their experiences of exploitation. Similar findings have been made in more recent studies and media articles covering exploitation in cleaning and in the restaurant sector. The study “We’ve got people lined up behind the door” argues that the exploitation of migrant workers should be seen as part of a larger, structural context, where dishonest and exploitative actors engage in economic crime and distort free competition. Thus, exploitation is not a stand-alone, specific phenomenon, but part of a larger societal and historical development. In the report we also argue that a focus solely on trafficking for forced labour makes it difficult to see and understand the larger structural and contextual factors that facilitate exploitation of migrant workers. Trafficking does not take place in isolation from the larger context of exploitation of migrant workers. Therefore, exploitation can perhaps best be understood as a continuum rather than as clear-cut, separate phenomena. We also make many more arguments, which are still very valid and relevant. By relaunching the report in English as a standalone report, we hope it will find a new international readership.

Report Series no. 76b. Helsinki: HEUNI 2024. 170p.