Documentary: cheap pizza is legal!

Take away owners have defended their low prices after the Finnish Hospitality Association warned that those selling pizzas for less than six euros would most likely be employing illegal and underpaid workers. A documentary by YLE aired this week looked at grey-market crimes in the hospitality trade, following 800 investigations which were launched by the Helsinki tax office between 2003 and 2010.

While only a small share of Finland’s informal economy was found to be in the restaurant trade, the hospitality association Mara claims that a six euro profit-boundary on pizza would ensure that workers are legal and adequately paid. In the EyeWitness documentary, however, pizzeria owners rebutted the claims, saying cheap pizza is perfectly legal.

”Accusations of involvement in the grey economy are offensive,” said Pizzeria entrepreneur Ardalan Rasul, from Salo, adding that working long hours and keeping employees to a minimum helps him keep prices down.

Another entrepreneur, Ahmed Seikh, admitted that he only takes home around EUR 1,000 every month, but said he’d rather have low-paid work than none at all.

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