New strike wave in Finland

Monday's papers:

https://yle.fi/a/74-20078522

Helsingin Sanomat tells readers that the widespread political strikes in Finland starting Monday will effectively halt freight traffic and disrupt fuel distribution for two weeks. The strikes, which hit ports severely, will hamper Finland's export industries such as technology, forestry and metals.

At the same time, the action now beginning will further increase the toll of strikes on the Finnish economy. It is impossible to give an exact figure, but the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), for example, estimates that recent strikes have already cost Finland well over a billion euros.

HS interviewed three strikers for a Monday morning feature.

The paper says that recent statements by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP), in which he stressed that the government will not compromise on the basic line of its plans to limit the right to strike and will expand local labour agreements, make workers' representatives see red.

"First of all, the right to strike will be restricted, which means that we would not be able to strike against government decisions. We would be deprived of the means to influence the situation," says Timo Mällinen, the chief shop steward at SSAB's steelworks in Raahe.

According to Mällinen, it is great that Finland enjoys democracy, and the freedom of opinion that goes with it. He says that he fears that the government's decisions are eroding democracy piece by piece.

Employers have argued that with these strikes, workers are shooting themselves in the foot and causing more unemployment.

For example, Ilkka Oksala, director for work and social affairs for the Confederation of Finnish Industries, told HS in early February that "employees are endangering the financial sustainability of their own companies and thus their own jobs".

The same message has since been repeated several times by employers.

According to Mällinen, the employer side has been making the same point for decades when they have wanted to voice opposition to strikes.

"Employer propaganda. The companies that go bankrupt because of this strike are hardly viable anyway," Mällinen counters.

Pasi Boehm, who heads the union chapter representing stevedores in Helsinki, argues that strikes in countries such as France and Germany are much more frequent than in Finland and have not caused unemployment there.

Sami Ryynänen, chief shop steward at Neste's Porvoo refinery, told Helsingin Sanomat that the strikes will continue as long as necessary. And at least so far, workers have shown strong support for the strikes.

All three of the union activists interviewed by the paper are in full agreement that any solution to the the impass will require negotiations.

"I hope that common sense will prevail and things would be resolved by agreement. Agreement will produce much more sustainable and workable solutions than government dictates," says Ryynänen.

Resisting government policies

Ilta-Sanomat writes that trade unions have been on a collision course with the government since last autumn.

The unions have already opposed changes to labour legislation by striking on several occasions over the past few months. The first round of strikes this year took place at the end of January and beginning of February.

Trade unions were outraged last summer when the government issued a list of ways it wanted to change labour legislation in its government programme.

The papers lists some of the most contentious plans by the government, starting from cuts to unemployment benefits and making the first day of sick leave unpaid, as well as changing the law to make it easier for employers to dismiss workers.

Another sore point for unions is that the government programme undermines national collective agreements by stating that local agreements will be allowed in all companies. The aim is to extend local agreements by removing certain prohibitions on local agreements in current labour law.

Additionally, IS points out, the government wants to limit the right to carry out sympathy strikes. If passed, government plans would redefine legal industrial action as that which is "reasonable in relation to the objectives pursued and whose effects are limited to the parties to the labour dispute".

The right to political industrial action will also be restricted. Government plans would limit the duration of political strikes to only one day.

Hard on the economy

Iltalehti points out that 96 percent of Finland's foreign trade passes through the ports that are being hit by the strikes that started Monday morning.

It writes that according to a preliminary estimate by the Confederation of Finnish Industries, the two-week strike will cause 320 million euros in damage to Finland's gross domestic product.

The strikes may cause disruptions in the distribution of fuel. Iltalehti refers to a statement to by the Industrial Union saying that petrol stations and airports will run out of fuel as a result of the strike. Retailers, on the other hand, expect there may be shortages at individual petrol stations. A possible spike in demand could also have a knock-on effect on fuel prices.

According to the National Emergency Supply Agency of Finland, the strike will not have a significant impact on the security of supply. It says that the availability of jet fuel is likely to be a challenge, but there is unlikely to be a need for any drastic measures.

Grocery chains say that the strike may affect the availability of individual products on store shelves. Overall, food shelves should not be empty because of the strike.

The strike may also indirectly affect domestic production, which uses raw materials or packaging materials imported from abroad. However, urgent consignments of goods can be delivered to Finland even while stevedores are on strike, by using special equipment to unload ships.