Industrial Union: The preparations to restrict the right to strike were all for show

The Industrial Union considers the work done by the committee preparing for an industrial peace legislation reform to be all for show. The Union sees that the work has not been truly tripartite. The employee representation on the committee has mainly been a formality.

“The government has a clear playbook. The restrictions on the right to strike are used to prevent employees from protesting the cuts and erosions of employee rights. First, they will try to silence the critical voices, and then they will steamroll the deteriorating reforms that will crush the Finnish labour market,” says Riku Aalto, President of the Industrial Union.

The reports of the committee preparing for an industrial peace legislation reform have assessed that the legislation reform would only have nominal positive impacts on the national economy or employment. Aalto finds the government course of action problematic.

”The deterioration of the right to strike does not solve any type of real problem. The government simply wants to restrict the employees’ freedom to take action. This is the long-term ideological goal of the Confederation of Finnish Industries and the government, says Aalto.

The employees’ confederations SAK, Akava and STTK criticize the industrial peace legislation preparation in their own press release, and the confederations have added their dissenting opinions to the report. The Industrial Union agrees with the confederations’ critique.

“The committee work has shown that the employees’ concerns and critique has been justified. The government does not want to build and negotiate, only push through. After this spectacle, we can expect nothing but more dictation from the other tripartite committees. But we will not be silent,” Aalto concludes.