Archive

Helsinki (01.03.2004 - Juhani Artto) Privatisation of public services has been a topic of political dispute in Finland for several years. As its Western neighbour Sweden has advanced further in the privatisation process, it is natural that the parties to the Finnish privatisation struggle refer to Swedish experiences as ammunition for and against various models of service provision.

In January 2004 the Finnish Trade Union for the Municipal Sector – KTV published a report* on Swedish experiences in privatising public services. The idea of the report was to list the major findings of several studies conducted in Sweden on the issue. The idea was also to avoid an ideologically coloured interpretation of the wide range of privatization outcomes.

"As the privatisation of services and other sectors remains an important agenda issue for trade unions around the world, we shall participate in the global debate on the pros and cons of privatisation by publishing a summary of the KTV report. This will be of particular interest to union activists in many other European countries, where similar questions are part of daily agenda," believes Jarkko Eloranta, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at KTV.

Mexico (25.02.2004 - IMF NewsBriefs 04/2004) The International Metalworkers' Federation, together with its Finnish affiliates Metalliliitto and Toimihenkilöunioni, has launched a pilot organising project in Mexico. The project is aimed at organising workers in a limited number of plants and companies, as well as identifying suitable partners for a future comprehensive organising project.

"Fundamental labour and trade union rights are notoriously violated in Mexico. This is not only true in the maquila export processing zones, but also in a majority of other companies. This extremely important - and difficult - project is an attempt to partly remedy this situation," explains the IMF general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi.

The trade union situation in Mexico is complicated and hampered by internal rivalries and by the existence of company-controlled unions negotiating below the statutory wage levels with management. A labour law reform, to be put in place in 2005, at the earliest, further complicates the Mexican picture.

Ahjo (29.01.2004 – Jorma Antila*) Over the last few months there has been a lively debate in Finland about the export of industrial production capacity. I have also been asked how many engineering sector enterprises and jobs will be moving abroad.

It is impossible to answer this question with any precision, as there is no method that would enable such a calculation to be made. Decisions are always taken in individual cases, and their implementation follows no given scheme. In the absence of a direct response, however, it is possible to list certain factors that either increase or decrease the probability that a business will remove its production from Finland.

For brevity, I shall present two extreme examples: I give a general outline of one company that is highly likely to export its production capacity, and of another that is highly unlikely to do this.

Helsinki (Press release - 29.01.2004) The public sector unions belonging to the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) plan to join forces to form a completely new organisation that would represent the whole public sector.

The Trade Union for the Municipal Sector (KTV), The Finnish National Union of State Employees and Special Services (VAL), the Joint Organisation of State Employees (VTY), the Finnish Customs Officers' Union, the Finnish Prison Officers' Union and the Coastguard Union have stated their objective to form a union that will strengthen their negotiating position, also in sectors and enterprises that operate on commercial principles but produce publicly funded services.

The unions involved in the process represent almost a quarter of a million wage earners. The project was started in spring 2003 and the work of charting the possibilities of merging has proceeded according to a tight schedule.

Ahjo (16.01.2004 - Mika Peltonen/UP) Continuous sleep deficit causes a serious safety risk at the workplace, says sleep researcher and neurologist Markku Partinen. "A tired employee more readily takes risks than a well rested employee, as tiredness weakens attentiveness and observation." For example, a tired worker will not necessarily notice that an industrial control room meter is over the red line and the process is running foul.

"In the long run a tired employee is no good to the employer, either. Even where loss of life and serious catastrophes are avoided, the financial losses may be really serious." According to Partinen, a 16-hour period without sleep already poses a significant risk, and is comparable to a blood alcohol content of 0.5 per mille.

Staying awake for 24 hours is comparable to a blood alcohol content of 1.0 per mille, and 36 hours without sleep corresponds to drunkenness of 1.5 per mille.

Helsinki (02.01.2004 - Juhani Artto) A total of 4,807 cases of occupational illness were reported in Finland in 2002. This was two per cent lower than in the previous year. The annual incidence in 2002 was 20 cases per 10,000 employed workers (23 in 1999). Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of registered cases involved male sufferers.

The most common occupational illnesses were repetitive strain injuries (1,360 cases), with a nine per cent decrease from 2001. The highest incidence occurred in food processing work.

Occupational skin diseases totalled 965 cases, down six per cent from 2001. Also here the incidence was highest in food processing work.

Helsinki (15.12.2003 - Juhani Artto) The Finnish campaign to reform export credit agencies (ECA) organised a seminar in September on the social and environmental impact of Finnish enterprises exporting to and manufacturing in China. At this event the campaign published a pioneering study* on the subject by Chinese researcher Ge Yun.

The study includes a great deal of material to help the reader understand the Chinese situation and ask the right questions about the role of Finnish enterprises and Finnish ECAs. However, lack of transparency in the enterprises and ECAs leaves many questions unanswered concerning the true social and environmental impacts of Finnish businesses.

With the largest level of investment and personnel in China, Nokia was invited to send a representative to the seminar. However, the Finnish multinational declined this invitation and limited its participation to a written document: "Nokia's Comment on Corporate Social Responsibility and Trade in China".

Helsinki (07.12.2003 - Juhani Artto) In the last few months China has hit the headlines in Finland as a threat to the employment of Finnish workers. This concern is not without foundation, as industrial jobs have been transferred to China and many investments that create new jobs, including those demanding higher qualifications, have favoured China over Finland. The media has dubbed this the "China phenomenon" or "new China syndrome".

Nowadays the trend is no longer documented merely in the news, but also in broader examinations of current affairs and in efforts to analyse how Finland should respond to the China phenomenon. Business community representatives have been quick to cite the China phenomenon as a new argument in support of their familiar calls for greater labour flexibility and lower labour costs.

Finland's trade unions have yet to take an active role in the new debate on the China phenomenon. They have mainly chosen merely to highlight the lack of trade union freedoms in China, with all of the negative repercussions of this for the working conditions of Chinese labour and its lack of fairness in global competition. Even when considering this burning issue, however, the Finnish unions have kept a fairly low profile.

Helsinki (01.12.2003 - Leena Seretin) The Finnish labour market consensus is the envy of many other countries in Europe. "The centralised collective bargaining model is quite alive and well," says research manager Timo Kauppinenof the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Dublin.

The labour market organisations in Finland reached a calm accord on the future of the pension system, which the national government then approved. At the same time future pensioners have quite often taken to the streets in massive rallies and fiercely opposed pension reforms in the older European countries such as Germany and France, even though here, too, such adjustments must be made.

Timo Kauppinen regards the pension reform as an excellent example of the vitality of the Finnish labour market model, and of how well it is able to guide progress to satisfy future needs.

Helsinki (22.11.2003 - Juhani Artto) Finland is tightening its measures to control the abuse of migrant labour. This is largely due to the demands made in recent years by the trade union movement. The movement has fought for reforms that will help to prevent the creation and growth of a grey labour market. Many responsible employers have also echoed the calls to combat migrant labour abuse in the form of substandard working conditions and denial to workers of even the most elementary rights. Law-abiding employers regard such abuse as unfair competition that impairs the competitiveness of their own businesses.

Cases of abuse have so far mainly been exposed in the construction, hotel and catering industries, but cases have also occurred in several other industries, such as road haulage, engineering workshops and harbours. Most of the abused workers have been either Estonians or Russians. These two nationalities also form the largest groups in the legal migrant labour force.