Archive

Helsinki (10.01.2003 - Daryl Taylor) With particular reference to the situation of migrant workers, SAK is proposing that trade unions should have locus standi to defend employees whose rights have been infringed. A parallel proposal has also recently been debated in ethnic relations, whereby organisations would be entitled to file and pursue legal claims on behalf of the victims of ethnic discrimination. The main argument for these proposals is that the situation of the victim may, for practical or psychological reasons, be so disadvantaged that the victim is either unable or unwilling to initiate and carry through a difficult legal process.

The SAK proposal involves a significant shift in current procedures for settling legal issues arising from employment in Finland. These issues divide into questions of public and private law. On the one hand, employers are criminally liable for certain aspects of employment. The State authorities can prosecute an employer for defaulting on such liabilities, whether or not any worker was injured by the default, and even if the employees concerned oppose the prosecution.

Helsinki (10.01.2003 - Juhani Artto) In the praxis of the Finnish political system post-election government program negotiations play an exceptionally significant role. This is because of the peculiar character of the Finnish political scene. About ten political parties share the 200 seats in Parliament, with none of them anywhere near to holding an absolute majority. The only way to establish a stable majority government is thus for coalition partners controlling a secure parliamentary majority to agree upon an extensive and detailed government program for the entire four-year electoral period.

After the government program has been approved and the cabinet appointed, the partners must then focus on implementing the programme rather than engaging in party politics that run beyond the limits of this programme or contradict it.

This system has operated with complete consistency since 1983. The present government of Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen is the fifth consecutive government to function for the entire four-year term. (1)

Helsinki (05.12.2002 - Tiina Ritala) What can a Western consumer do if a worker at a Vietnamese shoe factory has to sniff chemicals for 15 hours a day? Not much, but importers and buyers working in enterprise purchasing departments can influence such matters. This is one of the main conclusions of a reportage book published in Finland in November and written by the Finnish freelance journalist Elina Grundstöm.

Winter is a quiet period at the Vietnamese shoe factory. This Taiwanese owned facility in Ho Chi Minh City employs over 2,000 people. Its entire output is exported. In Finland the shoes are sold by retail outlets such as those supplied by Kesko, the country’s leading marketing and logistics company.

In Winter Hoa, 19, and Huong, 32, work about 48 hours a week, which is within the legal limits. They then earn EUR 38 to 45 a month. But from June to September the women spend daily about 15 hours in the factory. This means months with an average week of more than 70 working hours.

- speech by SAK President Lauri Ihalainen at an Executive Board meeting of the Council of Nordic Trade Unions, 2 December 2002, Helsinki

Helsinki (02.12.2002 – Juhani Artto) Nordic co-operation has long traditions. Existing co-operation structures, wide-ranging skills and a Nordic culture emphasising negotiation and agreement are assets worth defending. At their best, these ensure economic growth, security and solidarity. Such a social environment is a great competitive asset.

In a globalising world, however, the Nordic countries depend increasingly on development elsewhere. The current round of EU enlargement will have a significant impact on development in the Nordic countries and the entire Baltic Sea region.

Helsinki (27.11.2002 - Juhani Artto) Less than two per cent of people living permanently in Finland in 2001 were foreign citizens. Compared to most other industrialised countries this figure is very low. However, Finland’s foreign population increased rapidly in the 1990s.

In 1989, only 21,100 foreigners lived permanently in Finland. In the following twelve years this number increased more than fourfold, and is now about 100,000 in a country of 5.2 million people. Russians (23 per cent) form the largest immigrant group, followed by Estonians (12 per cent) and Swedes (8 per cent).

These growing immigrant flows transformed Finland into a net receiver of migrants. In the past the flow was very much in the opposite direction, with people tending to leave Finland. More than one million Finns and their descendants live abroad, mainly in Sweden, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Helsinki (27.11.2002 - Juhani Artto) In the second quarter 2002 the wages of men in Finnish industry were 24 per cent higher than those of women. The relative gender gap was equally large in the fourth quarter of 1999.

Helsinki (04.11.2002 - Juhani Artto) At the end of October the ICFTU publicised an updated list of foreign enterprises trading in Burma. This list seeks to pressure enterprises to discontinue investment and business relations in Burma, as recommended by the International Labour Organisation – ILO.

The list includes one enterprise based in Finland: Amer Group. Amer is on the list because this company has continued marketing sporting goods in Burma. Just before the updated list was published a representative of the company confirmed that despite the ILO recommendation it still prefers to retain a sales representative of its Wilson brand goods in Burma.

Helsinki (04.11.2002 - Juhani Artto) At the end of 2001 almost 4,000 enterprises based in Finland had factories, offices and/or other representation abroad. These enterprises had a total of 749 subsidiaries in foreign countries. How well do they respect core labour standards and other ethical principles overseas?

The information needed to answer this question is not immediately to hand in all respects. This was the starting point for SAK, the largest trade union confederation in Finland, and several other organisations when recently establishing FinnWatch to monitor the foreign units of Finnish enterprises.

Helsinki (04.11.2002 - Juhani Artto) Questions of ethical production and consumption have received increasing attention in the Finnish trade union movement over the last few years.

Recently a new phrase "corporate responsibility" has been added to the vocabulary of union leaders, activists and some leaders of the business community. However, ethical issues still play only a marginal role in the trade union movement at large.

The campaign against child labour has focused on awareness raising. This has involved publishing articles and reports in the trade union press and supplying the other media with materials on child labour.

Helsinki (18.10.2002 - Juhani Artto) The world’s largest mobile telephone manufacturer Nokia, which is based in Finland, has a factory in the Manaus Duty Free Zone in Brazil with a staff of more than 1,300.

In September the Union Solidarity Center of Finland SASK published a study* on how Nokia treats its labour force in Brazil. On learning of the favourable outcome of the study, the Finnish public breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of continued satisfaction with this Flagship of Finnish industry.

Even though some 90 per cent of the company is nowadays owned by foreigners, Finns still regard Nokia as a Finnish enterprise. And there are good reasons for doing so: Nokia has its roots and Head Office in Finland, and in 2001 roughly half of its 54,000 employees worked in Finland.