Roundup: Anti-gov't protest brings Finland to standstill

Some 30,000 demonstrators gathered at the Railway Square in downtown Helsinki mid-Friday. Union leaders and opposition politicians urged the government to renounce plans to reduce Sunday allowances and maximum holiday time through binding legislation.

The governmental measures would hit hard public sector employees with often comparatively low pay in the Finnish living cost conditions.

Natione-wide strikes that went with the protest brought Finland to an industrial and transport standstill on Friday.

Both local and long haul train services remained idle until 6 pm and most busses until Saturday morning. Finnish national carrier Finnair cancelled several domestic flights, but international flights suffered delays only.

Paper and pulp mills and other major industrial sites were closed for the day. Some of the police force joined the walkout as well.

The demonstration in Helsinki went without incident, but the atmosphere was tense and representatives of government parties addressing the crowds were booed and heckled. Students temporarily occupied later a university building in protest against cutbacks, but the event was peaceful.

The governmental measures aim at cutting production costs in Finland by five percent. In a rare national TV and radio address on Wednesday, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said he would welcome other ways of saving costs, but did not give up the five percent target. The workers' unions have accused the government of taking one-sided position in favour of the employers' interests only.

Of the three central unions, the blue collar SAK has continued to dismiss a pre-determined five percent cost cut target, while the white collar Akava and the STTK, mainly representing technical professionals, have indicated willingness to negotiate.

All unions remained strongly opposed to the government plan to reduce their rights or negotiation. Local media commentators have said the SAK is likely to submit a counter proposal to the government next week rather than saying outright no.

While Sipila on Wednesday set early next week as a time limit for alternative proposals, he on Friday extended the given time until the end of the month.

The lower earning public sector employees ended up as financiers for a government plan that would almost do away the employers' social security payments. Alternatively the government could have chosen to increase the value added tax or switched the tax burden to employees, but such solutions would have been in contravention of the center-right government's programme that pledged not to increase taxation.

The lower-end employees would be most hard hit as they tend to work weekend and shift hours, while higher level employees do not, analysts said.

Friday's protests were believed to be the first anti-government movement in Finland without a grievance against the employers since the civil war in 1918.

Much of national economic decision making in Finland has been based on a tripartite bargaining system between the employees, the government and the employers since 1960s. Political historians noted the tense situation of recent weeks has brought back recollections of the polarization in the 1920s and 1930s. Endit