Reader’s Opinion | Work force should not be talked about as anything but consumables

Matti Karhoja said in an opinion piece (HS 20.9.)that in working life a person’s lifespan is unfortunately short. This refers to the established language usage in Finland, which includes talking about people as labor power, as if they were objects of use.

This brought to mind the times from the golden age of tupa, when we were negotiating parental leave in the metal industry’s tes negotiations. A negotiator belonging to the group of Social Democrats, usually rather quiet, asked energetically to speak and said strongly, raising his voice: “If it were up to the employers, there would be no healthy boys born in Finland other than 20 years old.” At the end came an emphatic confirmation: Yes!

Kauko Parkkinen

former labor market lawyer, non-fiction writer, Vantaa

The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and edited by the HS editorial staff. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of writing at the address www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.