Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 21 January 2024

Big strikes in February. Strikes are political. A tough fight. Repeat.

Here is Uutisviikko in plain Finnish and Tuukka Lukinmaa.

There are big strikes in Finland at the beginning of February. Trade unions organize strikes because they oppose government policies.

Now we will tell you more about the dispute between the trade unions and the government.

Big strikes in February

The workers’ organizations, i.e. trade unions, organize big strikes at the beginning of February. The strikes last two days.

At least 70,000 workers in more than 700 workplaces will then be on strike.

There are strikes, for example, in factories, shops and many other places.

Air traffic also stops, and buses do not run normally.

Strikes are political

The unions’ strikes at the beginning of February are political.

It means that unions go on strike because they oppose government policies.

According to the trade unions, the government wants to weaken the position of the employee.

The government has many plans that concern working life.

For example, the government plans to make it easier to fire an employee in the future.

The government also wants to influence what kind of wage increases are made in Finland.

In addition, the government intends to weaken unemployment security, for example.

The government says that it is trying to reform Finland’s working life because it has big problems. For example, too many people are unemployed in Finland.

The majority of Finnish companies say that the government’s plans are good.

A tough fight

The trade unions oppose the government’s plans and are therefore organizing large strikes in early February.

The dispute between the government and the trade unions is big.

The government says it wants people to work. The government also says that the trade unions cannot decide what kind of policy the governments in Finland make.

The trade unions, on the other hand, say that they can organize even bigger strikes in the future.

Repeat

This time, Uutisvikiko’s topic has been political strikes. Let’s repeat the most important things.

The trade unions are organizing big strikes at the beginning of February.

The reason for the strikes is that the trade unions oppose the government’s policies.

This was Uutisviikko in clear Finnish. See you again, by the way!