finnish economy The ongoing political strikes and policies have already caused losses of about 1 billion euros. Iruka OksaraDirector of Labor Markets at the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK).
His estimate includes strikes organized over the past few months.
The Transport Workers Union (AKT) reported on Monday that bus drivers and service station employees will take part in a two-day political strike starting Wednesday, February 14th. Finnish ports are also set to come to a screeching halt from Wednesday to Friday as dockworkers go on strike.
“The strike will affect bus operations and the port will be closed. Overall, the AKT strike targets around 10,000 employees,” the union said, justifying the industrial action. He cited an extensive list of government proposals as evidence.
“Earnings-based unemployment security is being dismantled. Retrenchments require a good reason, but it is unclear how small an action is enough to cause a layoff. Days will be unpaid. In the case of fixed-term employment, a valid reason is not required. There is a danger that local negotiations will become local compulsion and become an excuse to undermine employment conditions and collective agreements.
Oksala told Helsingin Sanomat on Monday that the announcement was disappointing but not surprising.
He stressed that the strikes are beginning to have a significant impact on the national economy, with the paper’s conservative estimates putting the number of employees on strike this week at around 100,000.
“If this continues for a long time, the impact on companies operating in Finland will start to increase.”
Oksala said EK believes the government should take a firm stance with workers rather than making concessions.
“We believe that the problems of the Finnish economy are so serious that it is no longer possible to hide our heads in the sand and make difficult decisions,” he explained, adding that the labor market and social security He reminded them that the reforms already had the blessing of Congress. .
“Last year we had parliamentary elections, and people negotiated, argued and compromised for two months. Since then, this reform has also been approved by parliament.”
“This is an element of parliamentary democracy.”
Aleksi Teivainen – HT