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Roundup: PM's rare TV speech offers no immediate way out of Finnish conflict

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Two days before Finland is likely to be almost paralyzed by one-day anti-government protests, centrist Prime Minister Juha Sipila used a national radio and TV address to explain the government's position late on Wednesday.

Sipila appealed to the employer and employee organizations to reach agreement on solutions to improve the country's competitive edge through alternative measures.

"I call once again on the sides in the labor market, instead of means that have been shown to be difficult, such as (slashing) Sunday bonuses, to find easier solutions within the collective agreement," said the prime minister.

Sipila suggested that the entire package of measures proposed by the government could be replaced by extending the work day by about 20 minutes or giving up holiday pay.

In response to Sipila's proposal, Lauri Lyly, head of the blue-collar union federation SAK, said that his union would like to seek new solutions, but not to accept the government's move for strengthening the country's competitiveness through binding legislation.

Lyly noted that a five-percent cut in labor cost, set as a target in the government plan, is a lot of money to a person living on 2,000 euro monthly salary and the union does not accept "automatic reduction of salaries". Lyly said he would have expected some major initiative from Sipila, but there was none.

Jyri Hakamies, CEO of the Confederation of Finnish Industries, EK, considered that the idea of extending the work day by about 20 minutes or giving up holiday pay is a possible alternative.

In initial comments from the political opposition, the chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democrats Antti Lindtman said the prime minister should have wiped away the plans for mandatory legislation, but he did not.

The chairman of the Green Party Ville Niinisto noted the tone of Sipila was soft, but Niinisto reminded that it had been the choice of the government to target the lower level wage earners in the country.

A national radio or TV address given by the prime minister is extremely rare in Finland. Critics of Sipila's choice recalled that prime ministers used to be heard on the radio mainly in 1950s and rarely since.

Finnish Government announced a proposal last week to shorten employees' holidays, reduce pay for overtime work, Sunday work and sick leave. The proposal was meant to lower labor costs and boost the competitive edge of Finnish industries through binding legislation.

The government plan has triggered strong reaction from Finland's major labor unions including the blue-collar union federation SAK, the salaried workers' confederation STTK and Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals Akava.

The labor organizations representing more than two million workers in Finland called for a national demonstration and a series of strikes slated for Friday to oppose the cutting measures proposed by the government. The movement on the coming Friday is expected to halt numerous daily services across the country. Endit