The Sweden Democrats and the new government want to make the rules tougher when it comes to labor immigration. Among other things, they want to raise the minimum wage to SEK 33,200, and this may mean that Swedish companies cannot afford to hire workers from abroad, including seasonal workers in the forestry industry.
The forestry company SCA is Europe’s largest private forest owner and needs around 500 experienced planters during the summer months to get millions of new tree seedlings in the ground. For SCA, labor immigration is necessary to get hold of qualified personnel, because it is difficult to get hold of Swedes who want to work with forestry.
The basic salary for the planners is in accordance with the agreement and is currently around SEK 20,000. Raising the ceiling on the minimum wage to SEK 33,200 is unreasonable, according to Jonas Mårtensson, head of forestry operations at SCA.
See more about the forestry company’s criticism of the government’s proposal in the clip above