The government proposes restrictions on political strikes and sympathy strikes. Penalty fees for illegal strikes are also rising.
Minister of Labour Arto Satonen (kok) held a press conference on Thursday about the changes in the labor peace legislation. The government will make a presentation on the matter next week.
The government proposes that the duration of political strikes be limited to a maximum of 24 hours.
– You can only go on strike once for the same thing, Satonen said.
According to the proposal, other political industrial action measures, for example a ban on overtime or shift changes, should last no more than two weeks.
Satonen emphasized that the restriction does not apply to industrial action aimed at influencing one’s own working conditions.
A political strike should not be carried out if it actually continues a previously organized political industrial action.
Board advisor Nico Steiner from the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs said that the connection in time also has an effect. If, for example, at the beginning of the government term, you have organized a strike on a certain issue, you could organize it again on the same issue at the end of the term.
Special arrangements for certain industries
Steiner said that it may happen that the trade unions target political strikes more precisely than before to a certain action, in which case it is possible to hold a political strike on another issue.
For example, now SAK and STTK have organized political strikes to oppose the government’s labor market measures. In the future, they could be organized more individually in relation to a specific government proposal.
According to Satonen, the “acute effect period” of a political strike should be 24 hours. This means, according to Steiner, that industries in which the ups and downs of operations can last longer than the strike itself should try to limit the effects of a political strike to 24 hours with the available means.
According to Steiner, this is not intended to remove the political right to industrial action from certain sectors, but special arrangements can be demanded from them. This could mean, for example, that part of the production line would be kept running during a political strike.
Labor Minister Arto Satonen said he believed that the bill would bring investment certainty to Finland. Antti Mannermaa
Restrictions on sympathy battles
The bill would also prohibit “disproportionate sympathy battles”. Minister Satonen gave an example of this at the press conference.
If there was a labor dispute between Posti and the Postal and Logistics Union PAU, and ATK, which represents the workers in the car and transport industry, wanted to support PAU, AKT could stop Posti’s freight traffic, but not, for example, completely close the ports.
– You can’t stop the whole of Finland, Satonen said.
In the future, the compensation penalty for an illegal strike would be 10,000–150,000 euros. It could be reduced for a special reason or it could be removed if, for example, the operation of a small association would be jeopardized due to a sanction.
Steiner said the current penalties for illegal strikes have not been sufficient. The maximum amount of sanctions has been less than 40,000 euros.
The employee could also be fined 200 euros for participating in an illegal strike. The condition is that the person continues to be on an illegal strike, even if the labor court has declared the strike illegal and the person is aware that it is an illegal strike.
Satonen believes that investment certainty will improve
Satonen believes that the reforms will bring investment certainty to Finland when the rules of the game exist and are known to employers and employees.
According to Steiner, the positive impact of the proposal on the public economy would come through the reduction of strike days.
#restrictions #strikes
