Widely anticipated and sweeping industrial action commenced throughout Finland on Wednesday with the closure or partial closure of many daycares and early childhood education services, factories and even grocery stores.
However, for many people the most significant impact of the strikes will be felt from Thursday, 1 February, with some sectors feeling the effects of employee walkouts that will affect service provision for two days in a row.
Public transport, air traffic and delivery services will also be affected later in the week.
Strikes and work stoppages involve several trade unions and workers' confederations including SAK, STTK, JHL and Akava. The employee unions oppose the government's working life reforms and social security cuts.
Ongoing industrial action is also slated for some professional sector workers for 6 February.
Childcare and early education
Parents of young children will be feeling the effects of walkouts on both Wednesday, 31 January and Thursday, 1 February, as swathes of early childhood education, preschool and daycare workers walk out on the job each day. Playgrounds and professionally run family activities will also be affected.
In the capital region, most forms of daycare will be shuttered on both days as childcare workers, some early education teachers and family daycare workers participate in the strikes.
The strikes involve the social, health and education professionals' trade union Tehy, practical nurses' union SuPer, public and welfare sector union JHL and professional social workers' union Talentia.
Buses, trains, trams and metro by region
Many Finnish cities will see their public transport services drastically curtailed on Friday, 2 February.
All train traffic in Finland will stop on Friday from 12:01 am to 11:59 pm, with the exception of northern Finnish night trains.
In the capital region, local trains, metro and trams will not run at all, and up to 90 percent of HSL's bus services will be garaged for the day.
In Tampere, local service provider Nysse's bus traffic will be largely stilled on Friday, 2 February. There will be no tram or train service on Friday, however the company's website says that some individual bus routes may remain in operation.
Turku's Föli public transport service will probably continue to run all lines, but services may be less frequent. Strike action will affect services throughout Friday.
In Rovaniemi, bus traffic will be affected and some school transport will not run on Friday.
Private transport provider Onnibus will also be affected by the strikes and the company urges its customers to check timetables on the website before commencing travel.
Air traffic
The strikes will halt nearly all Finnish traffic at the country's major airports on Thursday and Friday, with the exception of the Utti and Halli military airports, which are primarily used by the Finnish Defence Forces.
According to Finavia, it is aware of capacity restrictions for commercial passenger and cargo air traffic on 1-2 February at airports in Helsinki, Ivalo, Jyväskylä, Kittilä, Kuopio, Kuusamo, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa.
Commercial passenger and cargo air traffic will stop completely between 12 am Thursday night and midnight Friday at Joensuu, Kajaani, Kemi-Tornio, Kokkola-Pietarsaari, Pori and Savonlinna airports.
Finnair has to cancel around 550 flights. The company is prepared to reschedule its customers' flights to other dates, regardless of the ticket type. For others, flights will be rerouted.
Grocery stores, restaurants and food production
A day-long trade sector workers' strike on Thursday, 1 February will affect grocery stores, including major chains such as the S and K groups, Lidl and Tokmanni.
Alko is open as usual.
Cooperative banking and hairdressing services may also be shuttered for the day.
Also, hotels and restaurants, transport hubs, and real estate and cleaning services may be affected all over Finland.
Some stores, hotels and restaurants may remain open with the help of a supervisory workforce or non-union employees.
The Finnish Food Workers' Union (SEL) is also on strike, with almost 4,500 food industry workers at 21 workplaces walking out between Thursday and Friday.
Construction sector stoppages
Many of Finland's biggest industries will partially or completely cease operations on Thursday and Friday, with construction sites set to fall notably quiet, particularly in the capital.
The mills of Stora Enso, UPM and Huhtamäki will halt or reduce their operations from Thursday 1 February through till the morning of 3 February.
Mines, refineries and chemical manufacturing will also be affected.
Other sectors
Some 10,000 postal service employees are also walking out from early Thursday morning, causing disruptions to mail, parcel sorting and logistics.
Delivery services, logistics and maintenance services will be impacted as transport industry workers' union AKT joins the industrial action on Thursday and Friday.
This will also affect vehicle repairs, trucking, stevedoring, commercial driving and deliveries, and travel agencies, amongst other services. The union's Viking Line employees will also walk off the job.
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