![]() ![]() It is really dangerous to drive without mirrors. ![]() Our transport route runs through the centre of Helsinki and on the motorway to Espoo. She found out about the absence of the van’s side-view mirror an hour before she was meant to be driving. Linh Tran, a ex-employee of Espresso House, was on duty two days after the accident. The winter tires for the van were not replaced last winter until January, when the workers demanded it.Ī screenshot of a WhatsApp message from an Espresso House district manager regarding a damaged vehicle. Messages sent between employees and management reveal a disregard for employee safety. “I think all the accidents happened because people were too tired to drive,” Albastroiu says. Sometimes there were small accidents that caused dents in the van. Both Albastroiu and Vietnamese employee Linh Tran served as drivers who transported the food they had just prepared to cafés in Helsinki and Espoo. Dangerous transportĪccording to the workers, the heavy workload also caused dangerous situations. According to the shift manager, the employment contract was set for 25 hours a week. Overtime was the rule rather than the exception.Īccording to pay slips, the Vietnamese shift manager, for example, worked 191 hours in September, almost all of it at night. The workday usually started at midnight, but in many cases the shifts had to be extended. There were three or, at most, four employees working at a time. That is ambitious, even if the work is well organised. Staff report being required to prepare more than 1,500 servings daily for multiple Espresso House locations in a small kitchen. This meant sometimes preparing more than 1,500 orders in one small kitchen, in just one shift. Additionally, they had to fill catering orders. When Albastroiu started work in September 2020, the workload was still reasonable.Īs the chain expanded, the central kitchen began preparing food for 14 cafés instead of the previous six. The pace in the big metropolis could be tough, yet she describes Espresso House as the worst job of her career.Īs the coffee chain grew, so did the number of cafés for which the central kitchen supplied food. Born in Romania and raised in Belgium, Albastroiu studied film but has experience working in the restaurant industry in London. Sometimes it felt like I didn’t even have time to breathe,” says Albastroiu of her former job.Īlbastroiu moved from London to Helsinki a year and a half ago with her Finnish wife. Oftentimes I didn't have time to eat anything. There are no breaks or even time to go to the bathroom. “The central kitchen is like a sweatshop. The products are then transported around the capital to Espresso House cafés. During the wee hours of the morning, workers who are predominantly of immigrant background, stuff croissants, bagels and breads and prep salads. ![]() In Helsinki, there is a central kitchen in the basement of the franchise’s Citycenter location, where food is prepared for the 14 cafés in the Helsinki metropolitan area. They report serious problems with the chain's central kitchen facility.įood is prepared for 14 cafés in one cramped kitchen. In addition to the anonymous Vietnamese shift manager, journalists from Yle's MOT investigative reporting team interviewed two other former employees of Espresso House. “I once delivered products alone by subway to 11 cafés. That’s why the employee, who did not have a driver's license, was pushing a trolley onto the subway. This occasionally happened due to the high turnover of employees. Normally, transport for the Nordic region's largest coffeehouse chain would have been done using a company van, but the driver did not show up for work. The Vietnamese man was transporting buns, bagels and other products to Espresso House café locations in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Eventually they let me go,” says the man, who asked to remain anonymous. They told me it’s not good to carry such high stacks on the subway, as it could be dangerous for other Metro users. “They asked what I was transporting and where. In September, Helsinki police stopped a man entering a Metro station while pushing an overflowing trolley. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |