"Workers' raffle" causes uproar

A gimmick of recruitment company that raffled Slovakian workers has been called tasteless and reeking of human trafficking.

The stunt in which recruitment firm Lugera offers ten free Slovakian workers, was part of a seminar in Leusden today, where farmers are told about the benefits of hiring foreign workers from east Europe. Workers union FNV Bondgenoten reacted furious. “The entire seminar is meant to show employers all kinds of tricks to get cheap labor from abroad,” said board member Mariëtte van der Neut. She said these constructions sideline Dutch workers because they are too expensive. The unionist said she thought at first that the raffle was a tasteless joke. “This is over the top. The images it conjures up remind me of human trafficking.” Visitors of the website Groentennieuws also reacted with shock. “A raffle of people is beyond shameless. The factor labor spills into modern slavery,” one person commented. Defending his gimmick Gerard Koolen of Lugera said it was nothing but a stunt. “We pay the salaries for a week for our first ten clients. It was meant as just a comical stunt, but looking back I now realize that it may have been clumsy. Maybe we should have given our first ten customers a discount,” he said.