Trade Union News from Finland
Tekijä (13.08.2025 - Heikki Jokinen) Shop stewards are a crucial part of the union. They are the people the union members trust with their everyday problems. They are the people who are there to ensure that workers' rights, collective agreements, and laws are respected in the workplaces.
In every workplace, covered by an Industrial Union collective agreement, employees can elect a union member as their shop steward (luottamusmies). The elections are held every two years. Any union member can be a candidate in his or her workplace, and all members have the right to vote.
The tasks of a shop steward are to negotiate, make agreements, settle disputes, and channel information between the employees and the employer. To this end, the collective agreements guarantee training, remuneration, and paid time off for these tasks. In companies with more than 400 employees, a shop steward is a full-time job.
Tekijä (11.06.2025 - Heikki Jokinen) The Act on Co-operation within Undertakings is a law that seeks to encourage continuous dialogue in order to develop a long-term relationship between the employer and employees at work. It serves to enhance the culture in which both employees and employers co-operate by respecting each other's rights and responsibilities.
In 2022, the law was amended. This law strengthened the right of employees to make proposals and present alternative solutions in the change negotiations regarding layoffs and redundancies.
Now, the right-wing Orpo-Purra Government has rewritten the law, only three years after it was enacted. New rules will be valid from the beginning of July. Unsurprisingly, the new law has been reconstituted only for the benefit of the employers. For workers, it might mean a loss of thousands of euros.
Tekijä (23.04.2025 - Heikki Jokinen) In Spring 2024, the Government of PM Orpo’s legislation limited the legal right to strike. The new rules lack clarity and are likely to create insecurity and create false impressions.
Anna Tapio, head of the Industrial Union legal department, and union lawyer Susanna Holmberg view the changes as substantial. The Government limited political strikes to a maximum of 24 hours, imposed severe restrictions on sympathy strikes, and raised union strike fines.
- The employees' possibility to influence has been limited really harshly, Tapio says in her interview in Finnish for this magazine.
In Finland, the number and frequency of political strikes has been marginal. For this reason, there is no clear case law, a practice developed through court decisions. However, political strikes did have some limits before, too.
Tekijä (05.03.2025 - Heikki Jokinen) The decision-making process in Finland is based on a democratic state underpinned by the rule of law. According to the principle of separation of powers, law-making, execution of decisions, and juridical power are separated.
Parliament stipulates the laws, decides on the state budget, and oversees the Government's work. Executive power lies with the Government and the President of the Republic. Independent courts represent the judiciary.
All of Finland's 21 wellbeing services counties (hyvinvointialue) and 308 municipalities are under regional control. Each enjoys autonomy. 108 municipalities call themselves cities (kaupunki), 200 municipalities (kunta).
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