Archive

Helsinki (26.06.2013 - Timo-Erkki Heino) "Finnish multinational corporations are export companies which carry out a major part of their activities in Finland." - This is the perception many Finns have of Finnish multinationals. The perception is outdated: in the case of eight major multinational manufacturing companies only 25 per cent of their personnel were in Finland in 2010 compared to 47 per cent in 2000, report Pekka Sauramo and Ritva Oesch in their study* recently published by the Labour Institute for Economic Research.

However, this outdated view still prevails in Finnish economic policy discussion - and practices - with conservative Government ministers demanding moderate or preferably zero-line wage increases in order for these multinational corporations to increase or maintain their employment levels in Finland.

JHL (24.06.2013- Heikki Jokinen) Three out of four Finns (76 per cent) say that public transport belongs to the public services. Only one out of ten think the opposite. This is one of the findings of a public transport barometer commissioned by the JHL.

The political opinion of those interviewed did not influence the result. A great majority among all party supporters saw public transport as an essential part of the public service system. In a previous similar barometer conducted in 2010 those who supported this idea was 79 per cent.

The survey covered 1,048 people from all around Finland. Special focus was placed on the Helsinki metropolitan region with 695 extra interviews. TNS Gallup carried out the survey.

Helsinki (19.06.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) Employees at a Finnish company Moventas Gears were told in January that all 635 employees would be temporarily laid off after mandatory consultation with regard to possible temporary lay-offs. Following this consultation the company took the decision to lay off all employees for 2 - 12 weeks.

Moventas Gears produce gears for industry and wind power stations. It has 970 employees, most of them in Finland. The owner of the company is Clyde Blowers, the Scottish industrial engineering group headed by entrepreneur Jim McColl.

The Metalworkers' Union shop steward Janne Rummakko at the Moventas Jyväskylä factory was at a loss to understand what was happening. "Before Christmas we were told that there will be no temporary lay-offs, as there is so much work", he explains to the journalist Aino Pietarinen in an interview for the Palkkatyöläinen magazine of the trade union confederation SAK.

Zero hour employment contract is a contract, where the number of working hours per week is defined between zero and 40. With these contracts, the employee does not know in advance, whether he or she will have work in the near future or not.

Helsinki (12.06.2013- Heikki Jokinen) Could the German labour market model be an example for Finland was the question put forward in a seminar organised by the Trade Union Pro and Metalworkers' Union. "If you want to create social problems I can recommend our model" said visiting speaker, director Wilhelm Adamy from the German trade union confederation DGB.

He pointed out how the creation of mini-jobs and allowing low salaries has caused increasing poverty in spite of economic growth. "The share or proportion of those on low income has also been growing amongst educated people. Lowering pay was expected to stimulate employment opportunities for those with little education or training, but this has not happened."

Helsinki (04.06.13 - Heikki Jokinen) Owners of a Finnish plastics company were handed down prison sentences for work-related human trafficking and aggravated embezzlement. The Ostrobothnia District Court sentenced the two owners to 2 years and 6 months in prison. They also have to pay more than 200,000 euros in compensation for embezzlement.

This all began in 2004 when the Vietnamese born couple established their own subcontracting company in the small town of Nykarleby and agreed with their employer to take responsibility for some of the factory work. The workers arrived from Vietnam and were related to the owner couple. Many of them were farm workers and illiterate.

JHL (29.05.2013- Heikki Jokinen) The Finnish government is planning to cut the budget of all research institutes under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health by up to 30 million euro in 2015. This will affect the National Institute for Health and Welfare, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and the Social Insurance Institution Kela.

JHL oppose the planned cuts. "The government is cutting back on public research and this will mean job losses for hundreds of people", said JHL head of bargaining, Kristian Karrasch, as he took part in a demonstration against the cuts in front of the Finnish parliament. "If the decision is put into practice it will mean dismissals of hundreds of competent and dedicated employees and wreck high quality research."

Helsinki (28.05.2013 - Juhani Artto / Heikki Jokinen) The publisher of Trade Union News from Finland is about to change. Heikki Jokinen will take over responsibility for the publication as of the 29 May 2013. Jokinen steps in for Juhani Artto who first established the newsletter in 1997 and has acted as publisher ever since. Artto will continue to serve as co-publisher up until the end of 2013, the post Jokinen has held from January-May 2013.

(27.05.2013 - Link to the web site of Yle News)

Helsinki (21.05.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) Working life in Finland has taken a turn for the better in the last three years according to a general study on Finnish working life, published a week ago by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health FIOH. The study is based on telephone interviews with some 3,000 people and is conducted every three years.

The good news is that the employment rate of people over 55 years of age is now higher. People are more willing to continue working longer, later in life. In 2006, 58 per cent of employed people aged at least 45 were considering continuing work after they reached the lowest possible retirement age of 63, now the percentage is 74.