Sweden’s annual dependence on Thai berry pickers
The forests in Sweden are full of blueberries, red currants and cloudberries that grow in the wild, but harvesting and sorting these fruits means strenuous work.
For reasons best known to them, Swedes are reluctant to pick these berries and are dependent on migrant workers from a country over 8,000 km away, Thailand.
Thais usually travel to Sweden to work as berry pickers on Nordic berry plantations from July to September every year. Every year, about 5,000 berry pickers go to Sweden to pick wild berries, mainly in the country’s countryside.
Despite the short berry picking season, a berry picker working in Sweden can earn around 4,000 dollars (RM16 800) for slightly less than three months’ work – a sum that is much more than what they can earn in Thailand. But it all depends on the harvest.
The labor costs for berry picking are relatively high during this short berry picking season. A berry picker can take slightly less than two months to earn the costs of the trip to Sweden, and the rest of the money is returned to Thailand.
The costs include fees to Thai staffing companies, accommodation, food and transport to the places for berry picking. Is it worth the trip for a Thai berry picker to travel all the way to Sweden?
Despite all these costs, a stay in Sweden can still be cost-effective for the average Thai berry picker, who can return to Thailand with savings of $ 2,000 (RM8,400) from a season in Sweden – if the harvest goes well. For the Thai worker, this is a decent income as it is about three times what an average worker in Thailand would earn during the same period. The most diligent berry picker could earn as much as 12 times more than he or she would earn in Thailand.
Such talk draws Thai workers to Sweden like a magnet.
On average, Thai workers have traveled to Sweden about seven times, but the most frequent worker has traveled over 26 times. They use their income to finance their daily needs, agricultural investments, housing costs and children’s education.
Obviously, berry picking is not a job that Swedes like to do, but for the temporary foreign workers, the work can be more lucrative than tearing up the swelling rice fields at home. These Thai workers are paid per kilo and expect a good harvest to make their work and stay in Sweden meaningful. Much depends on how much they can collect.
Thai berry pickers go to Sweden, and this arrangement seems to suit both sides: the berry season in Sweden falls at a suitable time during the Thai rice growing season. Workers only need to spend a relatively short time away from their families.
Thai employment services and Swedish carrier companies give Thai workers the opportunity to earn this extra income, which comes in handy to complement their children’s future needs.
Some experienced berry pickers use their own social networks to travel to Sweden, by starting a cooperative. In this way, costs are reduced.
Like other foreign workers, Thai berry pickers who come to Sweden pay their taxes to the Swedish state.
But a new special income tax for short-term foreign workers in Sweden could affect Thai berry pickers who travel here to work.
Those who work here for less than six months are taxed according to the law on special income tax for foreign residents: the employer deducts 25% of the workers’ income. Alternatively, the Thai worker can be taxed according to the usual income tax rules.
The employer who pays wages to the berry picker must pay employment tax, make tax deductions and send income notices to the tax authorities and to the employee. This applies regardless of whether the berry picker is paid for each kilo picked or per hour.
The employment service in Thailand has warned Thai berry pickers applying for jobs in Sweden about these new tax rules.
Source: Al Jazeera
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