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One out of five young members of Finland's large Service Union United (PAM) has received an offer to do unreported work. This comes out of a recent membership survey, which the union has commissioned. Anssi Vuorio, vice president of PAM and member of the UNI Europa Commerce Steering Group says that among unorganised workers, this practice would surely be even more widespread.

Anssi Vuorio, vice president of Finnish UNI Commerce affiliate PAM, raises an important issue when he points his finger at exploiting young workers in undeclared work. The grey economy denies them their social protection and at the same time it exerts a downward pressure on collective agreement wages and benefits. Employers' organisations must be more active in helping to wee out this kind of criminal behaviour, says the Finnish trade union leaders.

Young people are particularly vulnerable, Anssi Vuorio says, as social security and accumulating pensions money is something that belongs in the faraway future. Also immigrant workers are exploited in this way, and normally the employers get away without sanctions.

Destroys the industry's reputation

- We must make sure that the reputation of the services sectors is not destroyed even more through a dumping of wages and working conditions, if we want to ensure that they get the workforce which they need in the future, said Anssi Vuorio. He was speaking at a conference on the grey labour market, in Kuopio, Finland.

- To place young and immigrant workers in services sector jobs requires that collective agreement provisions on employment conditions and wages are respected, Vuorio said. He criticised business associations for only standing on the sidelines and observing the situation passively even if there is ample evidence of entrepreneurs who compete with illegal means.

According to Vuorio, employers' associations should pay particular attention to the need for information by new enterprises with an immigrant background. - The reasons for mistakes being made and obligations being neglected can be caused also by these employers not knowing the rules and by a lack of information in foreign languages.

Electronic ID Card

- Those entrepreneurs who are knowingly paying less than collective agreement wages should be brought to justice in the same way as those who neglect their tax and other public obligations, Anssi Vuorio said. He also suggests that the Finnish social partners start negotiating immediately about how to introduce an electronic identity card, which is already in use in the construction industry.

- I would not imagine that the representatives of honest employers would oppose an agreement or legislation, which puts the dishonest part of competition in order, Anssi Vuorio concluded.