Finland's labour markets are in turmoil this week as political strikes disrupt logistics and industrial production nationwide.
This latest round of strikes is part of a months-long dispute over government plans to change the law on sick pay, unemployment benefit, adult education benefit, wage bargaining, localised labour agreements, political strikes and sacking employees.
The proposed reforms represent a big shift in government policy, and unions are also opposed to the idea of legislating to achieve these aims rather than negotiating with employers' and employees' representatives.
"There are many reforms there that in themselves would be very, very difficult to implement," Pekka Ristelä, Head of International Affairs at the blue-collar trade union confederation SAK, told the All Points North podcast. "But the overall package is what is so drastic. And I'd say that's the reason why we see these unprecedented measures."
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APN also heard from those who support the government's measures. Business lobbyists say that the reforms are necessary to ensure a more prosperous future for Finland.
"The government has stated that these are perhaps not very popular reforms but these are the ones that are required to boost the Finnish economic competitiveness and employment and growth overall," said Juho Romakkaniemi, CEO of the Finland's Chambers of Commerce.
"So I don't see that they're will be any negotiations because that would lead to a process where the labour unions eventually would decide which legislation is allowed to go forward or not."
The proposals themselves are part of a broader move to reorganise Finnish labour market policy. Declining union membership is a long-term trend that unions have found difficult to arrest, especially among younger workers as well as those on a more precarious footing in the modern labour market.
"The unions have failed to market union membership to these people and they've been unable to mobilise these people to take industrial action, or to even articulate why industrial action is needed in this situation, when this is not a traditional industrial dispute," said Toivo Haimi, a journalist at the Left Alliance newspaper Kansan Uutiset.
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This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Egan Richardson. The sound engineer was Anttoni Wikström.
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