Naujienos

*Labour from abroad in Swedish forests

In many places in the forests of Southern Sweden the situation after the storm has been saved by labour from abroad. Södra skogsägarna (South Swedish forest owners ass.) alone have used the services of about a hundred foreign companies without experiencing any trade union conflicts, in contrast to the situation in the construction industry.

Södra skogsägarna have already availed themselves of the services of about a hundred foreign machine operating companies, which is possible today owing to the open frontiers in the EU. All companies are paid Swedish wages, and they are encouraged to sign the collective agreements, says Personnel Manager Rolf Andersson.

- We have rules for negotiating contractor issues with the Swedish trade unions, and we follow these rules here too. In the current situation we certainly do not want any conflicts or wish to waste energy on such matters. What we need to do now is get the timber out, he says.

Nor does the Forest and Timber Union see any major problems with the numerous foreign companies. Recently a few cases were revealed where dubious companies had used underpaid foreign labour, but these are rare exceptions.