Migrant construction workers building a Microsoft AI data centre near Gävle, Sweden, have won a 15 million Swedish krona (€1.3 million) collective agreement from the Irish contractor Benbau, Investigate Europe reported on 30 October. The Solidariska byggare union reached the agreement on Friday 23 October for its 78 members on the project, days after reporters sent Benbau requests for comment on alleged labour abuses.
By our arithmetic, split evenly the SEK 15 million is about SEK 192,000 (about €16,700) per member, or roughly 12 weeks of 60-hour pay at the agreement’s new SEK 260 hourly rate. It is also about 0.045% of the SEK 33.7 billion Gävle expansion plan. The sources do not say how the sum is split.
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The key insight: Benbau agreed a SEK 15 million (€1.3 million) collective agreement with 78 union members building Microsoft’s Gävle AI data centre, Investigate Europe reported; by our arithmetic that is about 0.045% of the SEK 33.7 billion expansion plan.
Members will receive compensation for back pay and improved salaries, and will earn SEK 260 (€23.49) an hour, well above the national average, Investigate Europe reported. The agreement takes effect on 1 November, gives workers the right to elect health and security representatives and gives unions access to all data centre sites in Sweden where Benbau works, according to the same report.
“The new collective agreement is the first Swedish collective agreement written by and for migrant workers”, said Pelle Sunvisson, a union leader who led the talks, Investigate Europe reported. Sweden has no minimum wage, and construction firms on the Microsoftproject in Gävle often do not have collective agreements in place, according to the report.
The SEK 15 million collective agreement for 78 union members at Microsoft’s Gavle data-centre site, split evenly, against one 60-hour week at the new SEK 260 hourly rate. Both bars are our arithmetic and illustrative; the sources do not say how the sum is split. Source: Investigate Europe.
What Workers Alleged
Benbau workers at the Gävle site alleged they often worked up to 60-hour weeks, faced regular harassment and had been forced to admit to workplace infractions they never committed, Investigate Europe reported. “They [Benbau] rule on terror, mental terror”, one Romanian worker told the outlet.
Workers reported vermin infestations, broken ventilation and a lack of heating in Benbau-issued housing, according to the main investigation. One Romanian worker on the site was confirmed to have active tuberculosis, Investigate Europe was shown a medical record confirming the diagnosis, and the county medical officer in Gävle said one case was reported in March.
The Site and the Inspections
The Gävle clearing is part of a 130-hectare, 33.7 billion Swedish krona (€3 billion) expansion plan started in June 2024 to scale up Microsoft’s AI data centre infrastructure in Sweden, Investigate Europe reported. Collen Construction oversees the build, and Benbau is one of its subcontractors, according to the investigation.
Since 2021, Sweden’s Work Environment Authority has opened 50 cases into data centre sites involving Microsoft and a number of Irish construction firms, Investigate Europe reported, citing records from 2021 to 2026. The five-month investigation was carried out with media partners in nine countries, including the Guardian, Le Monde and Die Zeit.
What Microsoft and Benbau Said
A Microsoft spokesperson said: “Microsoft is committed to ensuring that everyone working on its behalf is treated fairly, in line with Swedish labour law and our Supplier Code of Conduct”, Investigate Europe reported. The spokesperson said Microsoft sets contractors “clear requirements on health and safety, working conditions, and the freedom of association and right to collective bargaining”.
A Benbau spokesperson said the company “takes all concerns regarding the welfare, health and safety of our people extremely seriously” and has “stringent procedures for reporting, investigating and addressing workplace concerns”, according to Investigate Europe.
As we read Investigate Europe’s reports, the agreement was reached with the subcontractor, Benbau, not with Microsoft, which said it sets requirements for its contractors.
As we read the union’s terms, the agreement reaches beyond Gävle: it lets unions into all Swedish data centre sites where Benbau works, Investigate Europe reported.
By our arithmetic, split evenly the SEK 15 million is about 12 weeks of 60-hour pay per member at the new SEK 260 hourly rate; the sources do not say how it is split.
Pelle Sunvisson, Solidariska byggare, to Investigate Europe
“The new collective agreement is the first Swedish collective agreement written by and for migrant workers.”
Three Implications
FOR CONTRACTORS ON AI SITES Benbau’s agreement gives workers the right to elect health and security representatives and gives unions access to its Swedish data centre sites, Investigate Europe reported.
FOR MICROSOFTMicrosoft said it sets contractors clear requirements on working conditions and the right to collective bargaining, Investigate Europe reported.
FOR REGULATORS Sweden’s Work Environment Authority has opened 50 cases into data centre sites involving Microsoft and Irish construction firms since 2021, Investigate Europe reported.
The framework opens: “Big Tech’s hyperscalers are racing to build gigawatt-scale AI data centers, with five facilities set to exceed 1GW by 2026, each requiring a nuclear reactor’s worth of power.”
As we read Investigate Europe’s reports, the race also runs through construction labour and contractor chains, as at Gävle. The framework does not discuss Gävle or Benbau.
What Is Not Established
The allegations come from workers and union representatives interviewed by Investigate Europe; the company statements quoted above do not respond to them point by point. The SEK 15 million and €1.3 million figures are Investigate Europe’s. The per-member, weekly-pay and project-share figures are our arithmetic and assume an even split, which the sources do not state.
This Week In The AI Supercycle
Execution Fault Lines, Concentrated Demand, and Geopolitical Firewalls
This week’s issue: the AI build is not short of demand for its parts. It is short of cheap money, and its end revenue rests on a narrow base of large, often venture-funded buyers.
Benbau has agreed a SEK 15 million (€1.3 million) collective agreement with 78 union members building Microsoft’s Gävle AI data centre, including back pay, a SEK 260 hourly rate and union access to its Swedish sites, Investigate Europe reported. By our arithmetic, that is about 0.045% of the SEK 33.7 billion expansion plan.
A note on sourcing. The agreement, the allegations, the site figures, the inspection count and the Microsoft and Benbau statements come from Investigate Europe’s reports of October 2026. The per-member, weekly-pay and project-share figures are our arithmetic and assume an even split. We did not contact Microsoft, Benbau or the union.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
