Jarkko Eloranta, the chairperson of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), reacted at a news conference held by the central organisation in Helsinki on Thursday, 7 December 2023. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)
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THE CHAIRPERSON of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), Jarkko Eloranta, is pessimistic about the possibility that the one-day strikes announced for this week by numerous trade unions can be avoided, reports YLE.
Scheduled for Thursday, the strikes could cause widespread disruptions to public transport services especially in the largest cities in Finland.
“Out of SAK’s member unions, around 70,000–75,000 employees will be on strike. But when you also account for unorganised employees and the members of other trade union confederations, the total number is likely to rise to over 100,000,” Eloranta stated on YLE Ykkösaamu on Saturday.
SAK consists of 18 trade unions with a combined membership of more than 800,000.
Eloranta argued to the public broadcasting company that the government and employer organisations have joined forces to erode the position of wage earners, making what is often thought of as a tripartite process into a bipartite one. Both the government and employer organisations, for example, are intent on bypassing union-appointed shop stewards in local bargaining.
SAK has demanded that the government engage in genuine negotiations with unions about the amendments it is pursuing in employment laws and spending cuts it is pursuing in social security benefits. Of particular concern to the central organisation are the proposals to promote local bargaining, restrict the right to strike and slash unemployment benefits, according to Eloranta.
“For these discussions to become negotiations and for us to be able to reach an outcome in the negotiations, we have to find agreements on issues related to the labour market system, such as industrial peace and local bargaining laws, that also take into consideration the position, demands and goals of wage earners,” he outlined.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) has declared that the government is not interested in setting up a body to negotiate the reforms.
His government has justified the cuts in social security benefits and amendments to labour-market laws with their projected impact on employment, estimating that the ranks of the employed could consequently grow by up to 100,000.
Eloranta argued that measures such as promoting local bargaining and restricting the right to strike would not have a significant economic or employment impact.
Meanwhile, social security cuts such as the removal of the child increment and adoption of a tougher work requirement for earnings-related unemployment allowance are targeted largely at the same individuals. The fact that unemployed people can only re-employ themselves once, he added, has not been taken into account in the projections.
He also expressed his doubt about the effects of the incentives the government has laid out, particularly amid the deteriorating economic situation. The incentives will not work if there are no jobs, he explained.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
