Berry pickers get advice in seven languages

In Finland, many berry pickers are foreigners who are ignorant of Finnish collective agreements. To improve the situation the Wood and Allied Workers’ Union has for several years produced an updated summary of the central collective rights of strawberry pickers and pickers of other cultivated berries. The one sheet summary handles pay, annual leave compensation, various allowances, insurances, occupational health care and a few other topics. The sheet, due to be distributed to the foreign berry pickers, is published in English, Finnish, Swedish, German, Polish, Russian and Estonian.

Berry picking is covered by the collective agreement signed by the Wood and Allied Workers’ Union and the Rural Employer Association. The agreement is of generally binding character. It means that all employers of berry pickers must respect its regulations. The union and the employer association recommend that, in the early and final stages of the season, the pickers would not be paid per berry kilo but would have an hourly wage. In the beginning and the final stage of the season the amount of berries does not enable pickers to earn moderately if the per kilo pay system is applied.

The Wood and Allied Workers’ Union is one of the 22 affiliated trade unions of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, SAK.

Wages and terms of employment applied in berry picking are found in seven languages as pdf files on the website of the Wood and Allied Workers’ Union.