anxiety The recession in the Finnish labor market is expected to continue, and both the government and trade unions remain firm in their views.
minister of employment Arto Satonen (NCP) said on Wednesday at YLE A-studio that there is scope for the parties to the conflict to negotiate, for example, local negotiations and the details of the Industrial Peace Law.
He said the government would present its proposals for local negotiations today.
Jarkko ElorantaThe head of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) described the situation as very bitter, adding that trust between the two sides was being eroded.
Both Eloranta and Satonen have declared that they have no intention of backing down in the debate over the labor market reforms and social security cuts outlined by the government, with the former saying it is too late for the situation to turn around in favor of wage earners. He expressed the view that this is a possibility. .
“If the government goes ahead with its proposals, it will look to turn things around in the next round of collective bargaining and possibly the next parliamentary election,” he said.
Satonen told YLE Radio 1 yesterday that the government had no intention of withdrawing the proposal or considering the cost of the widespread political strike that disrupted manufacturing, port operations and public transport this week.
“These are long-term reforms, so we don’t consider any restrictions,” he said, adding that unions needed to think seriously about the costs and consequences of their actions. “They’re just digging an even deeper hole, and everyone has to pay for it.”
He warned that the strike could force companies to enter consultative negotiations, which could lead to job losses.
Mr. Satonen also argued that widespread industrial action demonstrated the need to restrict the right to organize political strikes. The government is currently drafting a bill that would limit the duration of political strikes to one day and would allow only one political strike to be organized on a particular issue.
“We plan to allow political strikes in the future, but we need rules to ensure that they do not have the negative impact on the national economy that we are currently seeing.”
Lauri VuoriEconomists from the Confederation of Finnish Industry (EK) told YLE on Wednesday that the recent strikes have caused significant damage to manufacturing industries, particularly steel mills and some chemical industry companies, resulting in losses of 380 million euros. Told.
EK previously estimated that strikes organized over the past few months have already caused losses of around 1 billion euros to the national economy. Jiri HakamiesThe EK’s general secretary told Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday that half of the total amount came from the three-day strike witnessed last month, and the other half from strikes organized this month.
Vuori told the newspaper that this estimate was based on the number of employees participating in the strike and the impact on production. Production losses are translated into corresponding gross domestic product effects.
But other economists believe the calculation is not so simple, especially since the economic downturn complicates the process.
Paivi PoontiHelsingin Sanomat, Director of Forecasting at the Etra Economic Institute, reminded that at the end of last year, almost half of the manufacturing industries estimated that they had excess capacity to meet demand. If those companies have already cut back on production, it may not be too difficult to make up for lost production after a day or two of strikes, she explained.
Meri ObstbaumThe head of forecasting at the Bank of Finland similarly pointed to economic conditions and low capacity utilization as confounding factors.
“Of course, the impact is negative, but if the strike is short-term, the impact can be very temporary,” she analyzed in the daily. “In any case, the economic situation and operating rates of the manufacturing industry are low.”
Labor unions have also raised questions about this calculation.
“Usually they’re completely exaggerated.” Ismo Kokko, the chairman of the Transport Workers’ Union (AKT) told YLE on Wednesday. “Just because you leave your goods in a container at the port for three days doesn’t mean you’ve lost them forever.”
Helsingin Sanomat said it was even more difficult to determine the economic impact of strikes in public sectors such as kindergartens and public transport.
“It’s almost impossible to estimate the impact even in hindsight, because it’s very difficult to separate out the impact from other factors that affect the economy.” juho koistinenHead of Forecasting at the Institute of Labor Economics (Labore).
Aleksi Teivainen – HT