The Federation of Finnish Enterprises (Suomen Yrittäjät) proposes that Finland’s defence spending could be funded by reducing the number of public holidays that fall on weekdays.
"To overcome the major challenges ahead, related both to strengthening defence and caring for an ageing population, we need to work more," said CEO Mikael Pentikäinen.
Pentikäinen presented the entrepreneurs' proposal on Tuesday during a public debate event at Pori's Suomi Areena.
Based on the organisation's calculations, moving Ascension Day and Epiphany to fall on weekends would increase gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.2 percent per holiday, which it said would translate to around 1.1 billion euros per year.
Both days in question are Christian holidays. Epiphany, celebrated on 6 January, marks the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus, while Ascension Day, observed 40 days after Easter, commemorates Jesus’ ascension to heaven.
Millions in savings
According to Pentikäinen, two additional working days would increase government tax revenues by about 500 million euros annually. In addition, he said the public sector would save around 100 million euros by no longer paying holiday bonuses for these days.
The proposal would see employees' annual working hours increase by about 0.6 percent.
"We believe this is a fair way to implement the change and would slightly ease Finland’s situation."
As an example, Pentikäinen pointed to Denmark, which cut a weekday holiday a few years ago due to rising defence costs.
Proposal for next parliamentary term
Pentikäinen said he does not expect the entrepreneurs' proposal to pass during this government term, even if there was support for cutting weekday holidays.
"There are already many major projects underway, and time is running out to prepare new initiatives during this term," he said.
He believes it's more likely the proposal could be implemented sometime during the next parliamentary term.
Labour confederation: "Old-fashioned proposal"
Jarkko Eloranta, President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), rejected Pentikäinen's proposal to cut weekday holidays. While acknowledging the need to address rising defence spending, Eloranta said the entrepreneurs' suggestion is the wrong approach.
"We do not support extending working hours by eliminating weekday holidays," he said.
Describing Pentikäinen's idea as "old-fashioned," Eloranta said the focus in working life should be on improving productivity, and simply lengthening working hours is not the right way to achieve this.
"For example, in Sweden, there is strong discussion about how to shorten working hours. It’s a very one-dimensional approach to simply add two workdays while leaving working hours otherwise unchanged."
According to Eloranta, the proposal to reduce paid holidays "comes from the same box" as the government's recent cuts to social benefits and unemployment allowances.
Eloranta characterised cutting workers' benefits as an unbalanced approach, especially considering the significant tax relief corporations receive.
Moving public holidays
The calendar date placement of Ascension Day and Epiphany has long been debated in Finland, as these days are seen by many to significantly disrupt work rhythms.
In 2014, the Church Council and labour market organisations considered moving Epiphany and Ascension Day to weekends. The Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) supported the change, but other parties found no strong justification.
A year later, the government led by former prime minister Juha Sipilä (Centre) proposed making these days unpaid holidays, but the plan was never implemented.
However, the dates the holidays fall on have continued to shift over the years. In 1992 they were restored as weekday holidays after nearly two decades as Saturday observances.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
