Emerging topologies of transnational employment : ‘Posting’ Thai workers in Sweden’s wild berry industry beyond regulatory reach

This paper suggests a need to pay closer attention to the fact that employment is increasingly stretched across several regulatory regimes. This may help explain why governments, which rely on national legislative frameworks, struggle to protect the interests of transnationally mobile low-skilled workers. By adopting a topological approach to state regulation and authority, the paper demonstrates how powerful actors have reconfigured employment in Sweden’s wild berry industry in a spatial sense by engaging transnational subcontractors. It argues that transnational subcontracting inserts distance into employment relationships, thereby creating precarious migrant workers whose simultaneous absence and presence in several regulatory regimes places them partly beyond the regulatory reach of any one nation-state or nationally based trade union. The paper also argues that the Swedish government’s response to precarious working conditions in the wild berry industry can be understood as a series of attempts aimed at bringing transnational employment relationships within its regulatory reach. Drawing on topological spatial vocabulary, it shows how these attempts are less about the movement of state infrastructure into transnational space than about the stretching and folding of space itself, in an attempt to establish a powerful Swedish presence across distance. On the other hand, the paper concludes that transnational subcontracting opens up a space which enables wild berry actors to circumvent regulations and, as such, it remains very difficult for the Swedish government to reach into employment relationships in this industry

Thai berry pickers in Sweden : A migration corridor to a low-wage sector

Every year, around 5000 berry pickers travel from Thailand to Sweden to pick wild berries. This report describes the system and regulatory framework that surrounds the berry pickers, and analyses their costs and earnings. The report has a comparative approach, and compares the Thai berry pickers with other types of international labour migration and with their alternative earnings in Thailand. It also describes the workers demographic background and their use of the earnings from berry picking. The report is uniquely based on 165 standardized interviews with Thai berry pickers, which were performed in Thailand on behalf of this study. The main conclusion is that the costs surrounding berry picking are relatively high, as seen against the background of the short berry picking season and the time that the workers are spending in Sweden. On average, a berry picker pays around 4000 USD to work in Sweden for a period of 70 days. This means that, for the average worker, it takes 1,6 months to earn enough money to cover these costs, and thereafter remains only a limited time window to earn enough money to bring back to Thailand. Around 50 percent of the costs incurred are paid to Thai staffing agencies, and the other half is paid to Swedish berry companies as a daily fee for accommodation, food and access to a car. After the deduction of all costs, the average berry picker returns to Thailand with around 2000 USD from one season in Sweden. This figure is roughly three times that of what the average worker would normally earn in Thailand during the same amount of time. The worker with the highest net earnings from berry picking in Sweden, however, could make as much as 12 times more than what he or she would make in Thailand. The report also shows that the berry pickers, who often are men working as farmers in north-eastern Thailand where they also have their families, are travelling to Sweden repeatedly. A majority of the workers in the study had travelled to Sweden seven times or more, whereas the most frequent worker had travelled as much as 26 times. According to the study, there is no positive relationship between the frequency of work in Sweden and the size of vi the earnings. The earnings from berry picking are being used for daily consumption and investments in farming, housing and children’s’ education. In the report we discuss the motives behind the perpetuation of the migration system despite the relatively high costs. One explanation could be that the workers are being paid on a piece rate, meaning that they are aspiring, and believing that they can achieve, the same high earnings as the most successful workers. However, the payment system also implies that the workers are at high risk, since almost 50 percent note that they have earned less than the guaranteed wage that they are entitled to according to Swedish collective agreements. Another reason why berry pickers travel to Sweden repeatedly could be that it’s associated with relatively low social costs. The berry season in Sweden occurs at a suitable time in the Thai growing season, and the berry pickers are spending a relatively short time away from their families. The system surrounding berry picking can be seen both as it’s solution and it’s problem. On the one hand, Thai staffing agencies and Swedish berry companies are providing the infrastructure that sustains the system across time, thus enabling the workers to invest in their children’s futures, etc. On the other hand, the report shows a lack of transparency in relation to the costs, which might be excessive, while the costs and risks are put on the individual worker. The practice of using staffing agencies has been enacted as a way to avoid taxes and social responsibility in Sweden. As an alternative, it is possible that experienced berry pickers could use their own social networks to travel to Sweden, while starting up a cooperative and in that way, reduce the costs.Årligen reser omkring 5000 bärplockare från Thailand till Sverige för att plocka vilda bär. Den här rapporten beskriver det system och regelverk som bärplockarna reser inom, samt analyserar deras kostnader och intäkter. Rapporten har ett jämförande anspråk, och jämför de thailändska bärplockarna med andra typer av internationell arbetskraftsmigration samt med alternativa inkomster i Thailand. Den redogör också för bärplockarnas demografiska bakgrund samt för deras användning av inkomsterna från bärplockningen. Rapporten är baserad på ett unikt enkätmaterial bestående av 165 standardiserade intervjuer med thailändska bärplockare, som genomfördes i Thailand för denna studies räkning. Rapporten bygger även på kunskap från tidigare intervjustudier med bärplockare, representanter från bärbranschen samt beslutsfattare i Sverige och Thailand. Rapportens slutsats är att kostnaderna kring bärplockningen är relativt höga, sett till den korta tid som bärplockarna spenderar i Sverige. I genomsnitt betalar en bärplockare cirka 33 000 kronor i fasta kostnader för att arbeta under 70 dagar i Sverige. För den genomsnittlige bärplockaren från Thailand krävs det 1,6 månader för att tjäna ihop till denna summa, och därefter återstår endast ett begränsat tidsfönster för att tjäna ihop pengar att ta med sig tillbaka till Thailand. Cirka hälften av de fasta kostnaderna betalas till thailändska bemanningsföretag och den andra hälften betalas till svenska bärföretagare som en daglig avgift för boende, mat och tillgång till bil. Efter att alla kostnader har dragits av tjänar den genomsnittliga bärplockaren cirka 17 000 kronor under en säsong. Detta innebär att de tjänar ungefär tre gånger mer under en säsong i Sverige än vad de normalt sett tjänar i Thailand, medan den arbetare som tjänade mest kunde inbringa hela 12 gånger mer. Rapporten visar också att bärplockarna, som ofta är män som arbetar inom jordbrukssektorn i nordöstra Thailand där de också har sin familj, reser till Sverige vid upprepade tillfällen. En majoritet av bärplockarna i studien har rest sju gånger till Sverige eller mer, medan den mest frekvente arbetaren hade rest hela 26 gånger. viii Enligt studien finns emellertid inget positivt samband mellan antalet gånger man har arbetat i Sverige och inkomstens storlek. Inkomsterna som bärplockarna får av sitt arbete i Sverige används till såväl daglig konsumtion som investeringar i jordbruk, bostäder och barnens utbildning. I rapporten resonerar vi kring vilka drivkrafter som kan ligga till grund för att systemet upprätthålls trots relativt höga kostnader. En förklaring kan vara att betalningen sker i form av ett ackordsystem, vilket innebär att arbetarna arbetar i tron om att det är möjligt att uppbringa så stor inkomst som de allra mest framgångsrika plockarna. Samtidigt innebär detta att arbetarna tar stora risker, eftersom nästan hälften av arbetarna uppger att de tjänat mindre än den grundlön de har rätt till enligt svenska kollektivavtal. En annan orsak till att bärplockare vid upprepade tillfällen åker till Sverige kan vara att det är förknippat med relativt låga sociala kostnader. Bärsäsongen i Sverige infaller vid en lämplig tidpunkt i det thailändska odlingsåret, och bärplockaren spenderar relativt kort tid borta från sin familj. Det system som kringgärdar bärplockningen kan ses som både dess möjlighet och dess problem. Å ena sidan utgör thailändska bemanningsföretag och svenska bärföretag den infrastruktur som upprätthåller systemet över tid, och gör det möjligt för bärplockarna att exempelvis investera i sina barns utbildning. Å den andra sidan visar rapporten att det saknas transparens kring om kostnaderna är skäliga, samt att kostnader och risker läggs på den individuella arbetaren. Användandet av thailändska bemanningsföretag har utarbetats som ett sätt att undvika arbetsgivaransvar och skatt i Sverige. Det är möjligt att arbetare med stor erfarenhet av bärplockning istället skulle kunna använda sig av egna sociala nätverk för att åka till Sverige, exempelvis genom att starta kooperativ och på sätt sänka kostnaderna för att arbeta i Sverige

Re-visiting the ‘black box’ of migration : State-intermediary co-production of regulatory spaces of labour migration

It is now widely held that a variety of intermediary actors, including recruitment and staffing agencies, multinational corporations and local brokers, shape labour migration. This paper argues that in order to better understand the global circulation of labour it is necessary to explore the involvement of these actors in the production of the regulatory spaces through which migrant labour is brokered. Indeed, migration intermediaries do not only navigate borders on behalf of their migrant clients. Nor is ‘the state’ primarily a backdrop against which the understanding of the role of intermediaries may be developed. Instead, we argue, regulatory spaces of labour migration are made and remade through direct and indirect exchanges and interactions between intermediaries and state actors. Through an analysis of three moments of regulatory change in Sweden, the paper shows that such interaction does not take place in an even landscape but, rather, that the ability of migration intermediaries to influence the regulation of migration lies in the capacity to form close relationships or establish a powerful presence. A focus on the dynamic co-production of regulatory spaces by intermediaries and state actors, in our view, offers a more nuanced account of how labour migration currently is brokered and regulated.Agents of migration: A comparative study of migration intermediaries in three labour market sector

Changing labor standards and ‘subordinated inclusion’ : Thai migrant workers in the Swedish forest berry industry

The forest berry industry in northern Sweden operates within a competitive global market for nutritious wild berries and is dependent on seasonal migrant workers. This chapter analyses actual wage levels of these workers after a series of new regulations surrounding migration and labour standards. Labour standards improved in Sweden in 2010 with the implementation of collective agreements and work contracts for non-European Economic Area berry pickers, the only country employing such standards within this type of industry. We discuss how, despite these improvements, Thai migrant berry pickers continue to be exploited in a process that we theorise as subordinated inclusion. The chapter is based on unique survey material with berry pickers and in-depth interviews with migrant workers during the berry season in Sweden and off-season in Thailand. We focus on actual wages, while also placing our analysis in the context of the industry’s peripherality and changing geographies of production and consumption. One third of the workers in the survey reported earnings below the income they are entitled to according to the work contracts. Despite deploying varying forms of resistance and the recent regulation of labour standards for migrant labour, we conclude that the fulfilment of their formal rights is still lacking.The forest berry industry in northern Sweden operates within a competitive global market for nutritious wild berries and is dependent on seasonal migrant workers. This chapter analyses actual wage levels of these workers after a series of new regulations surrounding migration and labour standards. It focuses on unique survey material with berry pickers and in-depth interviews with migrant workers during the berry season in Sweden and off-season in Thailand. The changes in the globalising labour markets and the varying forms of conditions and access to rights granted to different groups of migrant workers in relation to national systems provide examples of severe employment inequalities worldwide. Work in rural economic sectors such as agriculture, forestry, or industries of non-timber forest products links increasingly to global value chains and their institutional, ideological, and economic dynamics. The analysis of the survey shows that the earnings for Thai berry pickers many times were considerably lower than the collective agreement had stipulated

Cognitive changes and neural correlates after oral rehabilitation procedures in older adults: a protocol for an interventional study

Abstract Background Epidemiological studies show an association between masticatory function and cognitive impairment. This has further strengthened the notion that tooth loss and impaired masticatory function may be risk factors for dementia and cognitive decline. Animal experiments have indicated a causal relationship and several possible mechanisms have been discussed. This evidence is, however, lacking in humans. Therefore, in the current interventional study, we aim to investigate the effect of rehabilitation of masticatory function on cognition in older adults. Methods Eighty patients indicated for prosthodontic rehabilitation will be randomly assigned to an experimental or a control group. Participants will conduct neuropsychological assessments, masticatory performance tests, saliva tests, optional magnetic resonance imaging, and answer questionnaires on oral health impact profiles and hospital anxiety and depression scale before, 3 months, and 1 year after oral rehabilitation. The difference between the two groups is that the control group will be tested an additional time, (at an interval of about 3 months) before the onset of the oral rehabilitation procedure. The primary outcome is a change in measures of episodic memory performance. Discussion Although tooth loss and masticatory function are widespread in older people, it is still an underexplored modifiable risk factor potentially contributing to the development of cognitive impairment. If rehabilitation of masticatory function shows positive effects on the neurocognitive function, this will have great implications on future health care for patients with impaired masticatory status. The present project may provide a new avenue for the prevention of cognitive decline in older individuals. Trial registration: The protocol for the study was retrospectively registered in ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04458207, dated 02-07-2020