Archive

Helsinki (17.05.2011 - Juhani Artto) Experts estimate that about 200,000 Finns have been exposed to asbestos. At least 10,000 of them have succumbed to asbestos-caused illnesses, and in recent years around one hundred have died annually as victims of asbestos exposure during their working lives. At this point in time the number of serious illnesses related to asbestos is approaching the top-most level. 

Most exposures took place in the 1960s and 1970s at construction sites, shipyards and power plants and in vehicle installation, repair and service jobs. At that time there was also an asbestos industry in Finland, with serious health risks.

JHL/Trunf - Helsinki (06.05.2011 - Heikki Jokinen, Juhani Artto) A fairly new item on the agenda of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL is safeguarding the interests of those who are self-employed.

But before delving deeper into this, we should note some basic facts concerning the situation of the self-employed in Finnish society today. Some 160,000 people earn their living as self-employed persons, which makes up seven per cent of the total labour force - far less than in many other EU member states. In the last two years the number of self-employed in Finland has grown by 20,000.

Helsinki (02.05.2011 - Juhani Artto) The representative of the Hungarian employment agency Èszak-Èke Kft has been engaged in usurpy-type work discrimination in Finland, the District Court of Pirkanmaa concluded in early April. The company had employed Hungarian employees to work in a metal working company in Parkano in Western Finland and paid them a monthly wage from EUR517 to EUR595. According to the collective agreement of the technology industry they should have been paid a monthly wage of about EUR1400. 

In addition, the employees were not paid the proper evening and night allowances. The company also paid less than what is required for work done on Sundays. The accused claimed to have paid the employees a EUR7 daily allowance per hour but the District Court rejected this claim.

Helsinki (24.04.2011 - Juhani Artto) The rise of the True Finns as a political force in the April 17 Parliamentary election is by far the greatest and most overwhelming change to affect the Finnish political scene in over 60 years. The True Finns gained an astonishing 34 new seats in the 200 seat parliament, bringing their total to 39 (they held 5 seats during the last parliament). All other parties lost seats except for the tiny party of Swedish-speaking Finns. The huge advances made by the True Finns almost certainly means that it will be part of the new government, as one of its major forces, and thus have real influence on the political decisions to be made in government and in Parliament.

What will it mean for working people and trade unions representing them?

Helsinki (24.04.2011 - Juhani Artto) Big changes characterise the April 17 Parliamentary elections in Finland, but - as in the previous Parliament - a clear majority of the MPs are rank and file members of trade unions. Over 120 of the 200 MPs have union affiliation.

Some 60 MPs are members in the unions that are affiliated members of the highly educated employees' confederation Akava. At least 39 MPs are rank and file members in unions of the union confederation SAK and 22 MPs in unions of the salaried employees' union confederation STTK. In addition, several journalists, organized in the independent Union of Journalists in Finland, were elected.

STTK (24.04.2011) Although the result of the Parliamentary election was a something of a surprise, Leila Kostiainen, the General Secretary of the STTK, believes that STTK will enjoy good cooperation with the next government.

"STTK always strives to have good cooperation with the government regardless what parties have formed it. And so it will be now also. We do not foresee any obstacles to this being the case." 

Kostiainen expects the inter-party negotiations to lead to a majority government that will be able, together with the labour market organizations, to push the economy forward.

Helsinki (12.04.2011 - Heikki Jokinen) Ethical criteria have become more common in work-clothes purchases by public sector organisations. However, most still fail to give any serious consideration to the working conditions of their suppliers. This is the conclusion of a new study, carried out by researcher Päivi Pöyhönen and commissioned by Finnwatch*.

The study covers sixteen public sector organisations and three state-owned companies. And an interesting and positive development has been revealed by the study.

Helsinki (05.04.2011 - Juhani Artto) Akava, the union confederation of highly educated employees, has begun to cooperate with Trade Union News from Finland. Akava's decision reflects the union movement's need to enlarge its English language reporting.

Internationally active Finnish union organisations want organised employees in other countries to be familiar with characteristics and developments concerning the Finnish labour market.

Akava and its 34 affiliates can be regarded as a success story. Over a 30 year period the affiliates have been able to more than treble the number of their rank and file members to over half a million.The organising rate in the various fields has risen, on average, to about 70 per cent.

Helsinki (04.04.2011 - Juhani Artto) Under current Finnish legislation it is not possible for a trade union to sue an employer on behalf of its rank and file members or non-member individuals unless they have authorized the union to do so. Unions regard this as a serious injustice and demand new legislation - which would allow for what is presently impermissible - to be included in the next government programme. 

A new government will be formed and its programme approved in the weeks following the April 17 Parliamentary elections. Nowadays, the Finnish political system functions in such a way that it extremely difficult to carry out any essential reforms unless they have been included in the government programme.

Helsinki (21.03.2011 - Juhani Artto) Last year the number of work accidents increased by 5 per cent from 2009. In part, this unwanted development can be explained by the economic upswing that has meant more people in employment and a concomitant increase in overall working hours. 

However, there has also been a clear rise in accident frequency. In 2009 there were 28 accidents per one million working hours and in 2010 the vital statistical figure rose to 30. Thus, the accident frequency rose by 4 per cent.