Flight cancellations, public transport problems: around 300,000 workers in Finland are on strike today and tomorrow to protest the labor reform promoted by the country’s right-wing government.

The public and social sector (JHL), industry (SAK) and services (PAM) unions have announced that their members will go on strike on 1 and 2 February.

The reason: the labor reform bill introduced by the government of conservative Prime Minister Petri Orpo, which includes changes to collective agreements. The government also wants to limit the right to strike, reduce unemployment benefits and introduce a day when workers taking sick leave will not be paid.

Finland, like the rest of the Nordic countries, is known for its generous social policy, which offers significant protections to workers and good working conditions.

If these reforms are adopted, “they will weaken the position of workers in terms of job security, protection against unjustified dismissals and the right to strike,” assessed Markus Cipola, a curator at the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

State broadcaster Yle estimates around 300,000 workers in Finland will take part in the strike, with the SAK union calling for a large demonstration today.

The Finnish airline Finnair has announced for today and tomorrow the cancellation of 550 flights, affecting 60,000 passengers. Tomorrow Friday there will be no trains in the country and there will be no metro, trams or buses in Helsinki, according to JHL. The strike will affect the operation of schools and health services, as well as the industrial, energy, trade and catering sectors.

“The weakest”

The cost of the strike is estimated at around 360 million euros, the confederation of Finnish industries (EC) told AFP.

This kind of mobilization is relatively rare in Finland, but Markus Cipola does not rule out the possibility of more strikes being called in the spring.

If the government does not respond to the demands of the unions, it is “not unlikely” that they will issue new calls for mobilisations, he noted.

These strikes are aimed at showing the government “the extent of resistance” to this reform plan, explained SAK official Peka Ristela, who is hoping for a government retreat.

Because these plans “will limit the livelihoods of workers with smaller incomes who will find themselves unemployed,” he estimated. However, he stressed that his union is open to negotiations on the reforms.

For its part, PAM estimated that around 100,000 of its members will strike today and tomorrow.

Their main concerns: “the reduction of unemployment benefits and other social benefits,” explained Aki Ruhiainen, stressing that “many of these cuts unfortunately hit the least well-paid workers and the weakest.”

Other demonstrations are planned for February 6.