The government's reforms to the strike legislation will reach parliament at the turn of the month. HS compiled answers to essential questions about political strikes.
Why are political strikes being discussed right now?
Petteri Orpon The (kok) government has several goals to change the legislation of working life. One of them concerns labor peace or strike legislation.
In the proposal to be brought to the parliament at the turn of the month, the aim is to limit sympathy or support strikes in such a way that their effects do not cause disproportionate damage. In addition, the duration of political work stoppages, i.e. strikes, would be limited to 24 hours, and the duration of other political industrial action, i.e. overtime bans, to two weeks.
The government has also planned that in the future a penalty of 200 euros could be imposed on the employee if he continued the industrial action already deemed illegal by the court.
The information is based on the government's draft presentation, which was published in October. Minister of Labour Arto Satonen (kok) is scheduled to announce the final content of the government's proposal on Thursday.
The government is not restricting industrial action related to collective bargaining in its own sector. This means, for example, going on strike when the previous collective agreement has expired and a new one is being negotiated. In that case, the labor peace obligation is not valid. Unions usually organize industrial action to achieve their own goals, such as tougher wage increases.
The trade union movement opposes the government's plans. The unions have therefore organized several political strikes since December and smaller, regional walkouts already earlier last fall.
What are political strikes?
Political industrial action differs from other industrial action in that it does not aim to influence the parties to the collective agreement and, for example, the content of the agreements, but specifically to political decision-makers such as the parliament, the government or, for example, the municipal council.
The law does not specifically provide for political labor struggles. In Finnish jurisprudence, it has been considered somewhat simplified that political industrial disputes are permitted when they do not in any way affect the collective agreement. The words “in any respect” are essential: over the years, the labor court has imposed several compensation fines on the unions when it has deemed that the labor strikes organized by them could not be considered political labor strikes.
For example in 2014 the court ordered JHL, the union of public and welfare sectors, to pay restitution fines when it prepared a demonstration that stopped public transport in Helsinki to oppose the corporatization of the city's service production. According to the court, the threat of industrial action was actually aimed at the provisions of the official and collective agreement regarding management rights, even though the union was acting as a political industrial action.
In the government's draft presentation it is noted that the labor court has considered the political cause to be clearly separable and a direct temporal connection to political decision-making as prerequisites for an approved political industrial action. In practice, the labor court has considered acceptable political industrial action to be clearly expression-type, short-term, nationwide or otherwise very broad measures aimed at public authority.
Some collective agreements have agreed on so-called absolute labor peace, in which case political strikes are not allowed. This is, for example, the collective agreement of the press. The law also prohibits state and municipal office holders from participating in political labor struggles.
How many political strikes have there been in Finland?
In the preparation of the law, it has been estimated that there is no reliable information on the number of political industrial disputes. For example, the Statistics Finland does not keep statistics on political labor disputes separately.
Emeritus Professor of Labor Law Seppo Koskinen evaluate In a pamphlet he made for the Business Delegation (EVA). in 2018, that “cautiously estimating” the 21st century has seen about 1-2 strikes per year that have had “at least some” political motive.
According to SAK, the central organization of Finnish trade unions, in the last 20 years there have been “only a few political demonstrations that have included a day-long work stoppage” in Finland.
Prior to Orpo's reign, the last time larger political labor struggles were organized was in 2018, and in 2015 the prime minister Juha Sipilä (central) against the government's legislative reforms.
Why is Finland being compared to Sweden?
The government has publicly justified several of its reforms with the examples of other Nordic countries and especially Sweden. Because of this, there have been many debates in parliament and in the public about how the labor market works in Sweden and what kind of regulation there is – or isn't – in the western neighbor.
The chief lawyer of the Medlingsinstitutet, i.e. the local mediator's office Per Ewaldsson assessed to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesdaythat even in Sweden the limits of a legal political strike depend on several factors.
“[Emeritusprofessori] Niklas Bruun is right that not from there [oikeuskäytännöstä] there is no specific time limit. We have to look at the details: Does the industrial action have, for example, an international dimension or does it focus on things happening in Sweden? Is it, for example, an international show of solidarity?” he said.
“Furthermore, the labor court has considered that the duration cannot be left open. The consequences for employers must also be assessed. In Sweden, it is considered that if the collective agreement is valid, the employer does not have to put up with labor disputes for so long that the conduct of business is disturbed too much.”
In the Parliament's interim question debate on Tuesday, there was some discussion about whether there is an exact 2-3 hour time limit for permitted political strikes in Sweden. The same issue has also been argued in Sweden: For example in 2003 in the Swedish Labor Court a day-long political strike was called. The employers' organization considered this illegal, pointed to the accepted limit of just a few hours and asked for safeguards. The labor court rejected the application.
In the government's own draft presentation, it is mentioned that the Swedish Labor Court has, for example, considered the week-long blockade in the ports to be a legal political industrial action, but the one lasting just under a month was excessive.
How many political strikes have there been in Sweden?
In general, there are significantly fewer industrial disputes in Sweden than in Finland, and this is also the case with political strikes.
Published by “Swedish SAK” or LO Arbetet magazine wrote in January about the situation in Finland and used strikes from 2006 as an example in his story. At that time, Swedish unions opposed the bourgeois government's labor legislation with political strikes.
The article also asked an expert in labor law, a professor From Birgitta Nyströmwhat should happen in Sweden in order for the country to see a similar political strike as in Finland now.
“I have no idea,” Nyström replied.
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