Suspected exploitation of cucumber cultivation

Suspected exploitation of cucumber cultivation
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full screen During a joint operation with the authorities, the police visited a commercial garden in northwestern Scania and the staff residence of the Romanian cucumber pickers. Archive image. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

Cucumber pickers at a company in Skåne are being exploited, the police suspect after an inspection.

During a joint effort by the authorities this week, called Operation Flis, around 60 companies were visited in northwestern Scania, including the commercial garden that is now to be investigated and the staff housing for the Romanian cucumber pickers.

– They had no finances to move around with and were very locked into the workplace and housing. These are disgusting conditions, says the police and operations leader Cristofer Velden to HD/Sydsvenskan.

According to the working time reports, many of the cucumber pickers during August and September worked ten to twelve hours per day, several of them well over 300 hours per month. But they have not yet received any salary, reports the newspaper. Going home is not an option – because they have no money.

The case is being investigated by both the border police and the Swedish Work Environment Agency.

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