Unions have called for mobilization to protest against government proposals for labor law reform which they say would have a negative impact on low wages.
Hundreds of thousands of Finnish workers are expected to join widespread strikes that began Wednesday and will continue this Thursday and Friday, with more strikes planned for next week.
Unions have called for industrial action against government proposals for labor law reform.
The government says these radical reforms are necessary to make the Finnish economy more competitive.
The strike comes in the middle of the campaign for the second round of the Finnish presidential election, with politicians from the left and right campaigning to win votes, ahead of the vote on Sunday February 11.
“The need to reform our social security system and increase employment is urgent due to the level of our public debt. We need to put more people to work, reduce public spending and improve the operating environment to attract investment “affirms Arto SatonenFinnish Minister of Employment.
“The EU has pointed out our prospects for debt-based public spending and the IMF has also strongly supported the policies of the current Finnish government. In the interests of our future well-being, we should not and will not We cannot leave the reforms in abeyance.”he told euronews.
Which sectors are affected by the strike?
Unions estimate that up to 300,000 workers could take part in the strikes. A rally in Helsinki, the Finnish capital, on Thursday afternoon, February 1, was expected to bring politicians from each camp on stage to address protesters.
A strike by nursery staff in the capital region began on Wednesday, and workers from all sectors of Finnish working life joined in, affecting the country’s activity (from transport to restaurants to restaurants). energy sector).
Maria Löfgrenpresident of theAkavawho represents executives, explains to euronews that his union sought to resolve the situation by proposing balancing solutions to the Prime Minister.
“So far, the government has not committed to taking them into account (…) We want our solution to really be taken into consideration“, she confides.
Minister Arto Satonen, from the Party of “National Coalition” in power, affirms that the government collaborated with the unions during the preparation of its reforms, but that these are “absolutely necessary” and that unions cannot have a “right of veto” on projects.
What exactly does the Finnish government want to change?
At the heart of the conflict are two main changes the government says it needs to make Finland’s economy more competitive.
Firstly, there would be clear cuts to welfare provisions, some of which have already been implemented. Unions say this would mean losing hundreds of euros a month for people already on low incomes – a serious problem in sectors like retail where wages are already low – and would have an impact negatively on women, who are more likely to be employed in some of these low-wage occupations.
Second, the government wants to rewrite the rules of collective bargaining.
Finland traditionally used a tripartite model for labor negotiations: government, union representatives and employer representatives. This system has largely broken down in recent years for a variety of reasons, but the government’s latest round of changes to negotiations, unions say, would further weaken workers’ bargaining power.
Unions fear further changes to this decades-old system could be damaging because they fragment wage negotiations and give more power to sectors or individual companies to set maximum levels of wage increases, potentially leading to income disparities, even between people in similar jobs.
“In the long term, this type of change would almost certainly result in lower wages and less favorable conditions for workers”affirms Pekka Risteläresponsible for international affairs at the S.A.K.the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions.
The government has also proposed a system in which wages across the economy are linked to the export sector. It would prohibit the national labor mediator, often involved in setting wages, from proposing, in the context of a labor dispute, wage increases higher than those agreed with the export sector.
Reform projects and strike actions fuel war of words
The government’s plans and calls for strikes launched by the unions have once again pitted the ruling Finnish right and the left against each other.
Government ministers have called unions a “mafia”, while right-wing politicians have claimed union leaders will “punish” workers who choose not to strike, and have offered free legal advice to anyone who would find themselves in this situation. Another MP from a government party described the right to industrial action as an “unnecessary inconvenience”.
Finland’s coalition government, whose second-largest partner is a far-right party, has repeatedly tried to portray the strikes as dangerously political, saying it already had a mandate from voters to carry out its reforms and that unions should not try to circumvent it.
A citizens’ initiative petition aimed at banning so-called political strikes is supported by several politicians from the Prime Minister’s party.
“It is dangerous to start considering established and internationally recognized social actors as ‘mafiosi’ and using these kinds of labels. I would say that this can be the start of a very harmful societal evolution“, says Pekka Ristelä from SAK.
“International treaties, particularly the International Labor Organization, have specific rules on the type of political strikes that must be permitted, and political strikes are directed against government policies that have an effect on workers”he adds, describing a worrying “Trump effect” where legitimate actions are called into question.
“Overall, we have broad support among the population,” assures Pekka Ristelä.
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