Archive

Helsinki (13.03.2013 – Heikki Jokinen) Finland is producing bicycles again. The traditional bicycle factory Helkama Velox moved the production line of its Jopo bicycles back from Taiwan to Finland in 2010. Since then the sale of Jopo bikes has doubled.

About 24,000 bicycles will be manufactured this year, which amounts to eight per cent of total annual bicycle sales in Finland. Many components are still produced abroad, but more than 50 per cent is Finnish work. The original Jopo first made its appearance in 1965 and continued in production until 1974. With the retro boom in vogue Helkama began to make it again in 2002 and moved production to Taiwan three years later.

Helsinki (05.03.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The Prime Ministers' Office published last Friday a report demanding more low-pay work in Finland. The report is drafted by Juhana Vartiainen, the Director General of the Government Institute for Economic Research and Osmo Soininvaara, the Green Party MP and one of the party’s chief ideologists.

They propose that those under 25 years should receive salaries 20 per cent below what is set out in the collective agreements, with the sweetener of a reduction in the tax rate for those affected.

JHL (05.03.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The unions representing municipal employees are ready to agree, even at short notice, to a centralized labour market agreement, if the terms and goals set by the unions are achieved.

A centralized agreement would pave the way for the planned local government reform, the unions believe. The Finnish government’s reform plans include several mergers of municipalities, which is a major and controversial issue in Finnish politics at the moment. It is proving to be very difficult to implement.

Helsinki (01.03.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The Finnish Electrical Workers´ Union recently disclosed how Estonian electrical workers were underpaid on a major construction site (car park P-Hämppi) in the city of Tampere. After the visit of the union representatives some of the Estonian electricians joined the union and asked for help.

"There are many new companies in this branch and it can happen that they just simply do not know the rules. In most cases everything is ok", says ombudsman Jari Ollila in Vasama, the magazine of the union.

JHL (25.02.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) It is unhelpful and biased to view public and private sector jobs as being somehow in conflict or competing with each other, says the JHL president Jarkko Eloranta. He finds, however, clear evidence of this negative adversarial attitude in a fresh report by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, called Industrial Competitiveness Approach.

The ministry report summarises: "Economic growth demands the work input of private sector workers be raised to a sufficient level in relation to the size of the population". Eloranta stresses that it is damaging to undervalue public sector jobs and imagine they merely drain resources from the private sector.

Helsinki (22.02.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The threat of violence is often present for those working in small shops and kiosks. In 2012 a total of 312 robberies were reported to the police, and the year before 332.

Shoplifting is not classed as a robbery, though such cases may also involve the threat of violence. In 2012 a total of 47,360 shoplifting cases were reported to the police, several thousand less than the year before.

Helsinki (13.2.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) The law concerning paternity leave in Finland has been amended since the beginning of the year, allowing the father to take longer paid paternal leave. This is a part of the policy to divide childcare more equally between parents and to encourage fathers to spend more time with their new babies.

Paternity leave is now 54 working days altogether, approximately 9 weeks. According to Finland's social security provider Kela the father can take 1-18 working days as paternity leave after the child is born.

(10.02.2013 - link to the web site of Nordic Labour Journal)

(08.02.2013 - link to the web site of Pam Magazine)

JHL (06.02.2013 - Heikki Jokinen) From the beginning of February the JHL organisation will operate along three divisional or sectional lines: a division for safeguarding interests, a division for organisational and member services and a division dedicated to joint services. The renewed organisation is based on the union strategy "JHL 2017", adopted last June at the Union Council meeting.