Summary: Finland's press looks at a new LNG supply line from Estonia, the EU budget, flying tax party support and more.

Kansainväliset organisaatiot ja sopimukset

Turku daily Turun Sanomat reports on the  opening of a new natural gas pipeline  between Finland and Estonia that is expected to lower prices, make supply more reliable and lessen Finland's energy dependence on Russia.
 The Baltic Connector travels 77 kilometers under the Baltic Sea, connecting Paldiski, Estonia with the southern municipality of Ingå (Inkoo) in Finland. Completed this autumn, the transmission capacity of the two-way pipeline is 7.2 million cubic metres per day.
 It will begin operations in January 2020, when Finland's natural gas market opens up to competition. Natural gas currently makes up about eight percent of Finland's energy use.
 Finland has been entirely reliant on Russian natural gas, TS reports. The next big step towards moving away from this dependence will take place in 2021, when a pipeline connecting Poland and Lithuania will be complete and the entire Baltic market, Finland included, will be linked to the European network.
 Seventy-five percent of the cost of the 250-million-euro Baltic Connector pipeline was funded by the European Union, the paper notes.
 Finland's EU funding set to increase
 Finland's most widely-read newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has a story about  Finland's EU membership costs , after the European Commission released its budget proposal for the coming years on Tuesday.
 The membership fees of all of the European Union member states will go up by 1.11 percent in terms of the EU's gross national income (GNI). In 2027, the paper says Finland's membership payment would be 2.3 billion euros, while Germany's annual payment would be close to 35 billion euros.
 The Commission's CFO  Gert-Jan Koopman  said there are four reasons for the slight increase: inflation, economic growth, Brexit and new funding needs. The hole left by the UK's withdrawal from the union will be filled with higher membership fees and a reduced overall budget, HS reports. The paper says many eastern and southern EU countries are already protesting the possibility of lesser funding.
 Finland is a net contributor to the EU , but is nowhere near the top of the list. In 2014-2018, Finland paid an average of 0.55 billion into the union, or about 550 million euros more than it received.
 Agreeing on a long-term budget for the European Union has been one of the main goals of  Finland's rotating EU presidency . Budget negotiations will continue into next year, and a deal has to be reached by Christmas 2020 at the latest.
 Only two parties support an aviation tax
 The Joensuu-based newspaper Karjalainen carries an Uutissuomalainen report that says that the  recently successful citizen's initiative  to impose an  aviation tax in Finland does not have the necessary support in parliament , as only the Greens and the Left Alliance back the proposal.
 The news syndicate asked each of the eight chairs of Finland's parliamentary parties their views on the issue. Only the Green and Left Alliance leaders supported the idea as a Finnish initiative, although the chairs of the conservative National Coalition Party and the Finns Party both said they would consider support of a tax on flying if it was made binding on an EU level. None of the party leaders said an EU-wide aviation tax was out of the question.
 Rare white moose in Masku
 And the tabloid Iltalehti reports on a  rare white  Eurasian elk ( Alces alces ), that was spotted in the southwest city of Masku on Monday.
 Rita Pitkänen  says she rubbed her eyes several times after she woke up to the sight of a white giant traipsing through her garden.
 "It stayed for about a half hour and I was just amazed. […] I had never seen anything like it before, like most people. I think it was a female because it didn't have antlers," she tells IL.
 Although very rare,  white moose have been spotted in Finland in the past . Reports of a white male have circulated this autumn in the nearby area of Parkano, the tabloid reports. The white animals may not be albino, IL says, as they could also have a pigment cell differentiation known as leucism, in which darker pigments are missing.
 The IL story contains Pitkänen's  photos  of her gangly visitor.

Wednesday's papers: Pipeline progress, dearer EU membership, aviation tax support, white elk


Summary: Gambling monopoly Veikkaus' predicted dip in turnover may limit the amount of assistance offered to Finland's charities.

Kasinot, uhkapelit ja rahapeli- ja vedonlyöntipalvelut

Non-governmental organisations working in the social and health care field may see up to half of their Veikkaus funding cut starting in 2021, according to experts working with non-profits.
 After  public backlash  over  addictive  games and  questionable marketing  practices, the state-owned gambling monopoly Veikkaus said it plans to  cut 3,500 slot machines  from public spaces starting next year as well as introduce a new practice of compulsory pre-game ID checks. By 2025 Veikkaus says that 8,000 of the current 18,500 machine total will be removed from Finland's shops, kiosks, restaurants and service stations.
 In a  31 October press conference , the company's CEO said the rollback would shrink its annual turnover by 150-200 million euros.
 "Some associations are entirely funded by these proceeds. The smaller the organisation, the more dependent it is on funding," says  Vertti Kiukas , secretary general of the SOSTE umbrella organisation for Finnish NGOs working in social affairs and health.
 Kiukas estimates that if Veikkaus profits fell by 100 million euros, this would result in about 35 million euros in cuts to NGOs working in the social and health care sector.
 "The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will ultimately decide whether assistance will be taken away from work focusing on mental health, children and the elderly," he says.
 380 million euros in assistance, 10,000 jobs
 This year social and health care NGOs in Finland received 362 million euros in Veikkaus assistance and aid proposals for 380 million euros are being prepared for next year.
 Finland's Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA) is a standalone authority founded in 2017. It works with the ministry to manage funds granted to social and health organisations from Veikkaus gaming income.
 STEA director  Kristiina Hannula  says Veikkaus' projected turnover decrease will begin only in 2021. She would not speculate about how reduced funding would affect social and health care NGOs .
 About 45,000 people work in social and health care-related NGOs in Finland, and Veikkaus funding is thought to bankroll 10,000 of these jobs. A drop in assistance could mean payroll cuts at several charities.
 For example, 90 percent of the activities of a non-profit association for the visually impaired in Finland's eastern region of Kainuu is supported by Veikkaus funds.
 "Among other things, the assistance covers the salaries of two permanent employees. Of course if the funding dramatically changes, it will certainly affect our operations," says  Anja Koskelo , chair of the NGO's board.

Slot machine removals could threaten NGO funding


Summary: Customers who are owed money will have to apply separately for any interest owed and payment of sums under 10 euros.

Finnish Customs said on Wednesday that it would begin refunding 11.5 million euros in overpayments on import taxes, after it discovered that it had been using the wrong exchange rate to calculate duties owed by customers.
 Customs said in a press release on Wednesday that the inaccurate list of exchange rates had been in use between 1 May 2016 and 30 June of this year. It added that a total of 960,000 transactions had been affected by the incorrect rates. Customs said however that the individual sums were not very high.
 "The lion’s share is very very small and the largest sums are just a few thousand euros," Customs clearance director  Jarmo Räikkä  commented.
 Customer detected error
 During the period in question, customs officials used exchange rates provided by a Finnish commercial bank. However in the case of certain currencies, it should have been using rates set by the European Central Bank (ECB).
 "A misunderstanding occurred. In May 2016, an article of EU customs legislation entered into force, according to which we would begin using rates set by the ECB. The people who were responsible for updating those rates took them from the website of a Finnish commercial bank. As a result of a misunderstanding they thought that it provided a list of exchange rates set by the ECB. And that error just continued," Räikkä explained.
 The mistake was detected by a customer who noticed that Customs was not using ECB exchange rates. "The customer asked why we were not using rates on the official ECB site. It was an isolated incident that later proved that the list of exchange rates that was being used was not an ECB rate list."
 Altogether, customs officials had been using incorrect exchange rates for 25 currencies including the Russian ruble, the Swedish crown, China’s Renminbi and the US dollar in their calculations. The mistake meant that import duties fixed on the basis of customs duties and value added tax were between 1.5 and 2.5 percent too high.
 Refunds to begin as soon as possible
 Customs said that it plans to begin refunding the overpayments as soon as possible, but noted that in some cases returns won’t be paid until next year.
 "The selections will be made by a computer, but in any case this will involve a huge amount of manual work. We estimate that even if we begin the payments next week, it will take long into next year before we get it all done," Räikkä continued.
 Customs said that it will not refund sums below 10 euros unless customers request a repayment. By the same token, customers will have to make a separate request if they want to be paid interest on the excess payments.

Customs to refund €11m after exchange rate blunder


Summary: Slashing red tape on work-based residence permits would be at least one easy win, says an Yle political journalist.

The administration led by former union boss  Antti Rinne  has completed 150-odd days in government and has had little time to begin making good on the pledges in  its government programme .
 Rinne leads a disparate coalition spanning the political spectrum, and some tensions have been on show in recent weeks. Is it possible to balance the Centre Party’s rural base with the Greens’ urban, environmentalist focus? Can the Left Alliance and the economically liberal Swedish People’s Party agree on economic policy?
 The setup is certainly different to the unified approach of the Sipilä government, and that shows in some of the compromises made in Rinne’s first months in office, even as the governing parties promise big moves on several fronts.
 Voters may still be waiting to see how the new administration fulfills those promises given that it’s still early days, says Yle political journalist  Helmiina Suhonen . At the same time, she says that the Rinne government’s climate actions don’t match the lofty goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.
 "Even in 150 days there should be more to give than assurances of making a roadmap for your goals. People may not be pleased because the goals are so grandiose," Suhonen says.
 Easing work-based immigration
 The government has also pledged to raise the employment rate to 75 percent by 2023, but analysts are sceptical about whether that can be achieved without more significant policy initiatives.
 "What we see so far is really not in line with the target of creating 60,000 jobs, that’s hard for regular citizens to believe," she added.
 The government has been under pressure to address lengthy waits in visa processing for highly-skilled foreign workers.
 In response the government has pledged to transfer the administration of work-based immigration to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, splitting it off from the Finnish Immigration Service and thereby potentially speeding up approvals.
 According to Suhonen, this is an area that could provide the administration with "an easy win".
 "It is one of the easiest things to do at this point and it is something concrete they can attempt. Other things like attracting people to come to Finland are more complex and involve many different players," she adds.
 Good reviews on govt cooperation
 Even so, the list of reforms Rinne administration intends to undertake in this area  is long and ambitious .
 Suhonen says the government may be hampered by the fact that the five-party coalition does not always appear to be on the same page on some issues. The Greens and the Centre Party are especially antagonistic, having clashed over environmental issues  as well as internal security.
 In spite of their differences, Suhonen says the cooperation has gone "surprisingly well" and she notes that there may be no other option than for them to "just get along".
 "Smaller parties like the Greens or Left Alliance have no other choice if they want to be in government. The Centre may have some options, though," she continues.
 Rinne not afraid of conflict
 Prime Minister Antti Rinne took over the reins of government on the cusp of Finland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. Suhonen offers a mixed review of his tenure since then, noting that Rinne has shown himself to be adept at managing conflict within a group, she adds.
 "He is used to it and he’s not afraid of conflict. He is using this "iltakoulu" approach, something that [ Juha ]  Sipilä  didn’t really do during his term,” she says, referring to the tradition of informal after-hours discussion groups advocated by President  Sauli Niinistö  in 2011 that dates back to the 1930s.
 Otherwise, Suhonen identifies a tendency to mixed messaging as one of Rinne’s weaknesses.
 "He has lots of ideas and may not always share them with his teammates. It is not always clear what the message is and that may be a handicap."
 This week  the All Points North podcast  reviews the government's first 150-odd days in office. Would you give it a passing grade or not? What has it got right and where has it missed the mark? We'll discuss these and other questions with Helmiina Suhonen and Robert Sundman, presenters of the Yle political podcast Yes, no, abstain, absent (Jaa, ei, tyhjiä, poissa) or JETP. You can send comments or questions via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our  Facebook  or  Twitter  accounts, or to yle.news@yle.fi.

APN this week: How's Antti Rinne's government doing?


Summary: Most common problems observed were employees coming into work drunk or hungover, according to the survey.

Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö SAK

Työ ja työntekijan päihteiden väärinkäyttö

Two out of three trade union workers have encountered alcohol-related problems at their workplace, according to a survey published by the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) on Wednesday.
 The survey stated that the most common problems were employees coming into work drunk or hungover, and unauthorised absences caused by alcohol consumption.
 Nearly 850 union representatives and labour inspectors had participated in the SAK survey.
 Kari Haring , a medical expert at SAK, points out that the responses possibly reflect a long-term problem rather than just the current situation.
 "This is indirectly suggested by the fact that some of the responses stated that the workplace had a history of alcohol problems that diminished over time. However, the reality is that many workplace alcohol problems are still commonplace," Haring said in a union release.
 Substance abuse led to layoffs in a quarter of workplaces
 One in four workplaces have dismissed employees for substance abuse, the survey revealed. The figure has remained the same since the 2014 edition of the survey.
 "If an employee ends up being fired because of a substance abuse problem, the problem has progressed too far. In such a situation, the workplace has failed to identify the problem early to prevent it," Haring said.
 However, employers appear to be more sensitive to substance abuse problems now than five years ago. In this year's survey, 84 percent of shop stewards said they addressed problems, compared to 75 percent in 2014.
 The report also stated that 58 percent of workplaces have referred employees for treatment, roughly as often now as as they did five years ago.
 Eight percent of respondents said they noticed that someone had been under the influence of drugs on the job, while 29 percent of respondents spoke of drug tests taking place at their work.
 Need more focus on preventive measures
 Around 76 percent of shop stewards and occupational health and safety officials said they have a written substance abuse programme at their workplace — that's eight percentage points more than in a similar survey conducted five years ago.
 Almost all workplace substance abuse programmes mention treatment, counselling and ways to address the problem, but there isn't enough discussion about preventing substance abuse, the report stated.
 "Just referral to treatment is not enough, there must be more ways for the workplace to deal with problems caused by substance abuse. Employers should pay particular attention to preventive measures," Haring said in the release.

Survey: Two-thirds of employers grapple with alcohol-related problems


Summary: Four former employees were denied leave to challenge the appellate court's ruling.

Finland's Supreme Court has denied the prosecutor and four former employees of Nokian tyres leave to appeal the verdict of the Turku Appeals in what is being touted as  Finland’s largest ever industrial espionage trial.
 In 2010 and 2011, key personnel in Nokian Tyres' product development team moved to a new firm called Black Donuts Engineering.  The dispute  hinged on whether thousands of files that the former employees took with them to the new firm could be classified as business secrets.
 In 2017, the trial reached a conclusion when the court ruled that — contrary to the Black Donuts claim that the knowledge was widely-known in the industry — much of that information was secret.
 Turku appeals court reduced penalties
 Initially, 10 former Nokian Tyres employees were convicted by the Pirkanmaa District Court for offences related to the disclosure and use of business secrets.
 Most of the defendants were sentenced to suspended prison sentences and two were fined. The firm’s CEO and two executives were also sentenced to a three to five-year business ban.
 The Turku Appeals Court upheld the lower court's ruling but reduced some of the sentences.
 The appeal court dismissed the CEO's main charge and his suspended prison sentence was converted into a fine. In addition, it revoked the business ban imposed on the CEO and the other defendant.
 The court also reduced four defendants' suspended sentences, leaving two others unchanged. The fines were also reduced.
 However, the appellate court increased proceeds of crime forfeiture to the state to 556,800 euros from the 537,000 euros that the district court had originally ordered Black Donuts Engineering to pay.
 On Tuesday, the Supreme Court stated in a release that the prosecutor's application for leave to appeal concerned the proceeds of crime forfeiture to the state.
 One of the defendants convicted by the district dourt had sought dismissal of charges and the other three petitions for leave to appeal their verdicts.

Supreme Court rejects appeal in Nokian Tyres industrial espionage case


Summary: The appeal court changed the ex-customs boss' conviction to one based on a lighter charge.

The Helsinki Appeals Court has determined that  Antti Hartikainen , a former director of Finnish Customs, was guilty of negligent misconduct rather than official misconduct relating to a case dating back to 2015.
 In 2018, the Helsinki district court ruled that the former Customs boss had to pay a fine of 1,000 euros after finding him guilty of official misconduct.
 The court found that Hartikainen did not leave a meeting room during discussions regarding his wife's continued employment with the organisation, which presented a conflict of interest.
 The Customs Steering Group meeting took place in November 2015, and concerned enhanced surveillance of the illegal importation of alcohol. Participants of the meeting decided to put all of the associated temporary work contracts out for tender.
 Hartikainen's wife worked for the "Viinaralli" operation as a fixed-term customs officer at the time. No decision about who would be chosen to fill the positions was made in the meeting.
 Hartikainen recused himself but failed to leave the meeting where his wife’s fixed-term employment was indirectly discussed.
 Previous decision about intent overturned
 Contrary to the previous  district court decision , the appeal court found that Hartikainen was guilty of negligent misconduct, but that he had not acted deliberately.
 The court noted that the decision to continue the enhanced monitoring was not originally on the meeting agenda and that Hartikainen was not told about the matter in advance.
 He had to make a split decision about staying in the meeting to discuss the extra item, at which time he determined that it was not necessary to leave the room as long as he recused himself from the conversation. As it was, the court reports, the decision to continue the operation was made quickly and unanimously.
 Even so, the appellate court found that Hartikainen's presence at the meeting may have compromised the objectivity of the decision, due to his high-ranking position.
 The appellate court also determined that there was no justification for reducing the 10-day fine imposed by the lower court. Hartikainen had appealed the district court decision in May 2018, and denied that he had committed an offence in the Helsinki Appeals Court.

Appeal court upholds fine in ex-Customs boss' negligence case


Summary: Tampere University research found higher mortality in people with pessimistic attitudes, who also tended to eat poorly.

Pessimists are more likely to contract and die from coronary heart disease than people with an optimistic view of things, finds new research from the University of Tampere in southern Finland.
 Medical science licentiate  Mikko Pänkäläinen 's doctoral dissertation set out to determine whether the personality traits of optimism and pessimism can influence coronary heart disease, and if this effect could be mediated.
 His results found a four-fold risk of developing heart disease among the most pessimistic fourth of the study population, compared to the least pessimistic fourth. In contrast, optimism was not found to be statistically connected to the disease's incidence and mortality.
 "When you exclude deaths due to other causes, the risk for the most pessimistic individuals to die from coronary heart disease were more than twice that of the least pessimistic in the 11-year follow-up period," Pänkäläinen said.
 Pessimists also tended to have a more unhealthy diet in terms of cardiovascular disease risk, and could not or did not try to change their eating habits as often as the others.
 "Increased inflammation levels seemed to be an important link between pessimism and the disease," Pänkäläinen explained.
 Better preventative care is needed
 Earlier research has shown that pessimists can successfully improve their living habits if they are given the right motivation.
 "More research is needed on psychosocial interventions for the most pessimistic patients, as well as efforts that could be made on a societal level to help people stay positive in a world that often does its best to discourage this," Pänkäläinen added.
 The study was part of the "Ikihyvä Päijät-Häme" research project, in which 3,000 middle-aged men and older women and men from southern Finland were monitored from 2002 to 2012. Mortality statistics on the group were compiled one year after the study ended.
 Data on the subjects was collected via in-depth questionnaires, blood tests and health examinations. The participants also completed a revised Life Orientation Test questionnaire, designed to measure optimism and pessimism.
 Pänkäläinen says he hopes the results of his study will help target preventative care and identify new ways for treating coronary heart disease. He will defend his dissertation in Tampere on 22 November.

Pessimists more like to die from heart disease, study finds


Summary: An employee wanted to know if working hours specified in a job contract could be extended.

The Länsi-Uusimaa district court has ruled that the weekly number of working hours written into a worker’s employment contract cannot be extended on the basis of the previous government’s competitiveness pact.
 In 2016,  Juha Sipilä ’s centre-right government signed an accord with labour market leaders  that extended workers’ annual working time by 24 hours . The aim of the agreement was to make Finnish businesses more competitive by reducing the unit cost of labour. The competitiveness provision was then written into the collective agreements of various sectors.
 On Wednesday the Union of Professional Engineers reported on the ruling. Yle has seen the original judgment, which was unanimous.
 The court said that if a company increases employees' working hours, it is violating the working hours agreed in the employment contract.
 Employer ordered to pay
 The court also ordered the employer in question to compensate the employee for the additional 30-minute stints of extra time with interest and to pay legal costs amounting to nearly 25,000 euros.
 The union said that the court’s decision was based on the so-called favourability rule, according to which a collective agreement cannot be based on less favourable terms and conditions than an agreed employment contract.
 Union advocacy director  Petteri Oksa  described the court’s decision as a significant legal guideline.
 "On this basis extending working hours may have been done without justification to a large group of workers. The timing of the decision is also interesting, given that the lengthening of working hours is creating problems in the renewal of collective agreements," Oksa said in a statement.
 On Monday, unions representing technology and professional workers  began an overtime ban  after failing to reach an accord with employers on a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the sticking points was said to be the 24 unpaid working hours of the competitiveness pact, which unions wanted to eliminate.
 However, the extended working hours in the pact remained in the collective bargaining agreement for the engineering field.
 The employer may still appeal the court’s ruling in the appeal court or seek a precedent decision in the Supreme Court.

Court: Competitiveness pact should not extend agreed working hours


Summary: Yle’s monthly tracking poll showed a jump in support for Jussi Halla-aho’s populists.

Finland’s populist, anti-immigration party looks to have increased its support substantially in the first months of the SDP-led government.
 Yle’s latest poll suggests the Finns Party has a six-point lead over the National Coalition, its nearest challenger.
 The Social Democrats, who topped the poll  in April’s parliamentary election  and clinched the Prime Minister spot, are nine percentage points behind on 13.9 percent support.
 The party’s numbers are down 1.7 percentage points compared to Yle’s last monthly poll in October.
 PM  Antti Rinne  has only recorded lower poll ratings in July 2014, just after he took over as party chair. The Green Party is in third spot, making it the most popular government party in this poll.
 The Finns Party’s new support appears to be coming from SDP voters, according to pollsters Taloustutkimus.
 The party has clear policy differences on climate change, opposing new taxes on fuels and loudly supporting the right of Finns to eat meat in the face of efforts to reduce agricultural impact on the climate.
 Finns Party chair  Jussi Halla-aho  also frequently talks about immigration and migrants. This week he sparked a social media storm by taking on an SDP councillor and taxi driver of Somali origin who claimed to have refused a fare when his passenger racially abused him.
 Halla-aho suggested the councillor,  Abdirahim 'Husu' Hussein , had broken traffic laws by stopping on the highway.
 Taloustutkimus interviewed 3,414 people between 2 October and 5 November, and 2,397 people gave their party allegiance. The poll’s margin of error is +-1.4 percentage points.

Yle poll: Finns Party support leaps upwards, SDP slide continues


Summary: New curriculum in 2021, a Tampere-Helsinki rail upgrade is at risk and kindergarten workers in Turku join a strike.

Julkisten ja hyvinvointialojen liitto (JHL)

Finland is updating its secondary education curriculum, bringing what  Helsingin Sanomat called  a "revolutionary" change to high school teaching. The new system will be introduced to the public at the national secondary education symposium ( Lukiopäivät ) on Thursday.
 The national curriculum is a framework whose details each Finnish high school may implement as it sees fit. The current version was introduced in 2017, but a reform is already in the works. Some schools may opt to keep their teaching as is, although the HS article found this to be "unlikely".
 Changes to the current education system include moving from course-based teaching to study points and modules (as in Finnish universities). One study point will correspond to half of one course, and students will need 150 points to matriculate. Students can earn 1-3 study points from each module, which may be combined across different subjects.
 Other key changes include an increased focus on so-called "extensive know-how", meaning general life skills as well as linguistic and conceptual competency; redoubled attention to students' mental health; and collaborations between universities and companies.
 HS wrote that teenage students would also be directed to be more involved in the composition of the curriculum itself.
 The government hopes to raise the proportion of 25-34-year-old university-level graduates in Finland from the current 41 percent to at least 50 percent by 2030.
 Main rail line EU funds uncertain
 Another reform underway in Finnish infrastructure is a plan to further develop the country's main rail line,  known as Finland Railway . Rail connections between Riihimäki and Tampere are first in line,  Aamulehti reported ; the Ministry of Transport and Communications aims to  cut commute times to one hour  between the capital and the large cities of Tampere and Turku.
 However, EU funding for the project may become an issue, as the deadline for applications to the European Commission's  Connecting Europe Facility  (CEF) closes in February. A project company has not yet been established to oversee the application process, the ministry's economic development head  Sanna Ruuskanen  said in AL.
 "We may not be able to establish one in time. But the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) can apply for other funding instead," Ruuskanen said. "Our goal is to apply for CEF funds, but it's all down to scheduling now."
 Municipalities began talks to form a project company on Wednesday, AL wrote. The late start has director for the Pirkanmaa EU office  Hannele Räikkönen  worried.
 "We're concerned that the necessary steps will not be taken by 28 February. It also seems that there is no plan B."
 Räikkönen said that the European Commission recommended that Finland apply for funding specifically for Finland Railway, so that the next round of applications in 2021-2027 could focus on financing the actual construction project.
 "If we miss this deadline, we will miss the whole of the next programme as well," Räikkönen said.
 Turku daycares miss hot food
 Tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reported  that the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) and the Federation of Public and Private Sector Employees (Jyty) started strike action on Wednesday in Turku schools.
 Warm food will not be served for the rest of the week in Turku primary and lower secondary schools, affecting some 20,000 students.
 The union originally ruled that 24-hour kindergartens would not be affected, but JHL and Jyty extended their strike to affect some 700 children in round the clock Turku daycare, IS wrote.
 The city of Turku has contracted Fazer Food Services to provide 24-hour daycares with daily meals for the duration of the strike.
 JHL and Jyty are striking to protest newly-proposed collective bargaining agreements by service sector company  Arkea , which is almost fully owned by the city of Turku.
 Unions fear that the agreements of more than a thousand employees would be adversely affected by the change, IS reported.

Thursday's papers: Next curriculum, EU rail funding, daycare food strike


Summary: The strike will affect some 20,000 children in Turku until Friday.

Two service sector unions  declared a local strike  on Wednesday, causing Turku schools and 24-hour daycare centres to offer more than 20,000 children only cold meals until Friday.
 The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors (JHL) and the Federation of Public and Private Sector Employees (Jyty) announced the industrial action on Wednesday to protest newly-proposed collective bargaining agreements by service sector company Arkea. The unions extended the strike to affect 24-hour daycares on Thursday.
 Turku education division director  Timo Jalonen  said he admits that the city is breaking the law by denying children warm meals. The city of Turku and Arkea also said that they consider the strike itself to be unlawful according to standing collective bargaining agreements, and because the strike warning had not been issued two weeks in advance.
 Jalonen said that the city's hands are tied.
 "We're between a rock and a hard place here. But if there aren't enough employees, we can't just let anyone prepare food for young children," Jalonen said.
 The  Regional State Administrative Agency  (Avi) for Southwestern Finland reproached the cities of Turku and Kaarina in 2018, also for not providing warm lunches during a JHL strike.
 Jalonen said that no company in Turku could provide school food for the entire city during a strike. Fazer Food Services will provide 24-hour daycares with meals, but lacks the resources to serve every school in the region.
 Messy start, new negotiations
 Jalonen said that news of the strike and its consequences did not reach schools in time on Wednesday.
 "Some students didn't know to bring their own food, but hopefully everyone is on the same page today," he said Thursday.
 Jalonen maintained that the situation was unfortunate, but that packed lunches are commonplace around the world. He said that Turku schoolchildren should have no problem preparing their own meals for a few days.
 However, real estate and cleaning services may be at greater risk of becoming backlogged, especially if the strike continues into next week.
 Service company Arkea said on Thursday it would meet with JHL and Jyty representatives at 10 am on Tuesday, 12 November in an attempt to settle the terms of their collective bargaining agreement with union workers.
 Negotiations broke down on Tuesday last week when JHL walked out of the talks after Arkea refused to budge on salaries.

Service sector strike pulls warm school meals, talks begin


Summary: The walkout could lead to delays of several weeks in letter deliveries.

Posti workers will go on strike next Monday, National Conciliator  Vuokko Piekkala  announced on Thursday.
 She said that the two sides' positions were so far apart that no agreement was in sight. The next official talks are scheduled for next Wednesday, 13 November.
 Workers in mail delivery, handling and transportation jobs are to stay off the job from 6 am on Monday, 11 November until midnight on Sunday, 24 November.
 The Finnish Post and Logistics Union (PAU) also confirmed that the walkout will go ahead. The trade union said that the conditions were not right for the mediator to present a compromise proposal.
 PAU's board is to meet on Friday to finalise plans for the strike, which has been  threatened since 22 October .
 Management rejects claim of wage cuts
 A previous  job action in early September  was suspended after a couple of days. That followed a promise from the cabinet minister in charge of overseeing majority-state-owned firms,  Sirpa Paatero , to discuss Posti's plans to shift some employees to a different working contract agreed by another union. PAU says this would significantly cut the income of already low-paid staff members.
 Tuomas Aarto , Director General of the Service Sector Employers' group (Palta), dismissed PAU's allegations of wage reductions, saying that the new contract would guarantee that all employees' current pay rate would stay the same.
 "The breakdown in negotiations did not take place due to any single threshold question," he told Yle as he left the talks.
 PAU chair  Heidi Nieminen  said after the negotiations that ensuring the income level of low-paid workers was the key issue for the union. She added that PAU apologises for the inconvenience for Posti customers caused by the industrial action.
 Mail could be delayed by weeks
 If the strike goes ahead as planned, package deliveries within Finland at least will be delayed.
 "We're talking about delays of several days in the delivery of packages if the strike is carried out as it has been announced," said  Jarmo Ainasoja , head of Posti's Control Centre.
 The same goes for packages sent abroad, but Ainasoja said that much depends on how negotiations progress in the coming days.
 Delays in letter mail may be significantly longer, even several weeks.
 In a statement, PAU said it had "decided to take collective action to combat Posti's collective labour agreement shopping and the deteriorating of wages and conditions of employment," adding that "the strike does not prevent work related to the health and safety of citizens".
 According to the trade union, Posti "has initiated various countermeasures to break the strike," telling its members that these "must be strictly rejected and reported immediately to the strike committee and to the union office!"

Postal strike begins on Monday morning


Summary: The office said employment measures must be a priority in coming years.

The National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) said on Thursday that the government is in danger of violating the terms of  the EU's Stability and Growth Pact  (SGP), designed to help coordinate national fiscal policy. Finland has previously nearly exceeded the terms of the pact  in 2014  and  again in 2017 .
 The audit office estimated that public spending would also grow faster than EU regulations permit, and that Finland would need to boost employment to ensure compliance and balance government finances.
 "At present, it seems that a significant deviation from the Pact may arise in the structural balance of general government bodies," the  NAOF press release  read. "On the other hand, in light of the information presently available, the limit would be exceeded by only a small degree."
 The NAOF said that the government programme's target of 60,000 newly employed persons by 2023 is doable.
 "The government’s one-off future investment programme will be launched in 2020, and it will have an impact on the compliance. [Also] the additional permanent expenditure decided by the government will be realised before the tax increases … bring additional income," said economist  Leena Savolainen  in the release.
 "Although the estimates involve uncertainty, we encourage the government to pay attention to the risk of a substantial deviation from the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact. In the spring of 2021, we will give our final estimate of Finland’s compliance with the Pact in 2020."
 The NAOF will publish a more extensive report on fiscal policy in December.

Finland's spending to outpace EU limits, audit office warns


Summary: The engineering giant blames "challenging market conditions" for the latest round of staff reductions.

Teollisuudessa käytettävien koneiden tukkukauppa

Marine and energy equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä said on Thursday that it had concluded redundancy talks in Finland with a loss of 92 permanent jobs.
 Most of those receiving pink slips, 75, are in the west-coast town of Vaasa. There will also be a dozen redundancies in Helsinki, where the firm is headquartered, as well as five in Turku.
 The largest number of layoffs, 66, are in the Vaasa-based Energy division, with more than two dozen in the Marine division and others in support positions.
 The negotiations, which began in late September, were originally intended to cut the workforce in Finland by up to 200, along with up to 150 more elsewhere.
 "Tragic mood"
 "Due to challenging market conditions it has been necessary to evaluate the proportions of our structure and organisation. Unfortunately that has led to a reduction in force of 92 people," said  Vesa Riihimäki , Managing Director of Wärtsilä Finland.
 Story continues after photo
 Union rep Ralf Holmlund Yle/Johanna Ventus
 "The mood is really tragic, with gloomy fates lying ahead for a large number of people," said  Ralf Holmlund , chief shop steward for the Federation of Professional and Managerial Staff (YTN).
 Holmlund says he hopes that these adjustment measures will now suffice, even though the company announced a couple of weeks ago that its profits slumped in the third quarter of this year.
 Riihimäki declined to speculate on future payroll trims.
 "It's difficult to predict how the situation will develop. At the moment the whole organisation is working hard to ensure that we can maintain our business in the global market," Riihimäki said.
 Wärtsilä has operations in 70 countries. As of late October, it had approximately 3,900 employees in Finland. More than 3,000 of these were in Vaasa, along with a few hundred each in Turku and Helsinki.

Vaasa hit hardest as Wärtsilä cuts 92 jobs in Finland


Summary: Can the five-party coalition fulfil pledges of more jobs, concrete climate action and a reinforced social welfare state?

Prime Minister  Antti Rinne 's Social Democratic Party may be feeling the effects of a global trend in which voters are deserting traditional socialist and conservative parties in favour of smaller and newer green or nationalist political bodies. That's according to political journalist  Robert Sundman , who commented on  Yle's latest voter approval poll  showing the SDP in fourth place, well behind the opposition Finns Party, which has steadily been firing up voter enthusiasm.
 Helmiina Suhonen , Sundman's co-host on the Yle political podcast  Yes, no, abstain, absent  ( Jaa, ei, tyhjiä, poissa ) pointed out that  Jussi Halla-aho 's Finns Party doesn't have to do much to win favour while in opposition. Sundman noted that the nationalist party may even be acting as a protest channel for SDP voters who are dissatisfied with the current government.
 Suhonen noted that while the new  administration has been slow in setting out a clear roadmap  for achieving ambitious employment and climate action goals, it has held together well and there have been no major crises.
 She gave the government a respectable grade of seven out of a possible 10 for its performance so far. Citing little to go on, Sundman sat out the vote and abstained.
 Join the conversation
 If you have any questions or comments or would like to participate in the discussion, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi.
 The All Points North podcast is a weekly look at what's going on in Finland. Subscribe via iTunes (and leave a review!), listen on Spotify and Yle Areena or find it on your favourite podcatching app or via our RSS feed.
 This week's show was presented by  Denise Wall  and our producer was  Priya Ramachandran D'souza . Our sound designer was  Laura Koso .

All Points North #67: Grading Antti Rinne's first 150 days in office


Summary: Fewer people have sought asylum in Finland in the last couple of years than earlier in the decade.

Ministerit, ministeriöt ja valtioneuvosto

Finland's Ministry of the Interior  said in a release on Thursday  that work-based immigration applications have increased in popularity since 2017.
 Last year about 10,800 people filed applications with the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), about 2,000 more than one year previously.
 More than half of the applications (53 percent) were for immigration based on manual work. These were followed by applications based on expert know-how or specialisation (14 percent). Fifty-six percent of these applicants were Indian nationals.
 Even though reception centres are still dealing with the spike in asylum seekers in 2015, the Interior Ministry also said that fewer people sought asylum in Finland in 2018-19 than at any other time this decade.
 "In all, 4,548 asylum applications were submitted in Finland in 2018. Almost one half of these (2,139) were subsequent applications submitted by asylum seekers already in the reception system," the release details.
 Family ties, social impact
 Family ties were the number one reason for immigration in 2018. Migri granted residence permits to some 9,000 people, around the same as a year previously. Russian citizens have traditionally been the largest nationality to be granted residency based on family.
 The ministry report noted that immigration is key to population growth in times of record-low birth rates. Certain industries are experiencing worker shortages, and an ageing population could exacerbate such deficiencies. Work-based immigration is a valid countermeasure, the report said.
 The ministry said it intends to redouble efforts to ensure that immigrants with residence permits based on family ties or international protection could find their way into working life faster.
 The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will also support the measures with an employment programme called  Integration SIB (Social Impact Bond)  and by developing so-called "centres of competence" to help immigrants find work and other aid.
 Several ministries collaborated on the immigration report together with Migri, Statistics Finland and the National Police Board. The study also serves as Finland's migration report for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Interior Ministry: Fewer asylum seekers, more work-based immigration


Summary: Hundreds of suspected drug offences were reported during a fortnight of stepped-up surveillance.

Finnish police uncovered a total of 175 suspected narcotics offences and 311 suspected drug use offences during an intensive nationwide surveillance operation in early October.
 During the course of the investigation, police said they rounded up 150 suspects, 19 of whom were detained and three remanded into custody. They also discovered seven cases of suspected aggravated narcotics offences.
 Drugs seized 1.7 kg of amphetamine 5.4 kg of marijuana 770 grams of hash 200 marijuana plants 295 ecstasy tablets 141 gm of methamphetamine 14 gm of cocaine Over 3,000 narcotics pills, including Rivotril, Subutex and Xanor tablets
 The number of suspected drug crimes and narcotic use offences increased compared to last year, according to police. However, there were fewer alleged aggravated drug offences than last year.
 Weapons found in house searches
 During the surveillance period, police conducted 125 home searches.
 Police inspector  Teemu Saukoniemi  said house searches are a typical method used in investigating drug-related crimes as they often lead to the discovery of clues or additional substances.
 The searches also revealed potentially more serious crimes, as 14 weapons were seized in the raid. Officials also detected apparent cases of drunk driving, violence and property crimes.
 According to Saukoniemi, the raid did not reveal any major surprises.
 "The results were the same as in previous years. We know from other sources that these substances are used all over Finland."
 All police departments all around the country participated in the two-week surveillance exercise.

Police detain 150 suspects in nationwide narcotics sting


Summary: Finnish newspapers on Friday include the surprising news that a commuter-belt hypermarket has been named the ‘best shop in the world’.

Finland likes guns. The country has  some of the laxest gun laws  in Europe and gun ownership is pretty common, and on Friday Helsingin Sanomat  attempts  to map out just where the weapons are concentrated.
 It is focused on places where hunting is a popular pastime, and in some of those towns, there are more firearms than people.
 In the northern towns of Suomussalmi and Sodankylä, for instance, there are 110 licensed guns for every 100 people.
 The most popular licensed weapon in Finland is the shotgun. The paper also reports that guns are an older person’s hobby, with nearly three in four weapons licensed to someone aged 51 or over.
 Åland election redundancies
 Iltalehti  reports  on efforts in Åland to change the way representatives in the provincial parliament are compensated when they lose an election.
 The losing politicians are entitled to payments amounting to between 28 and 60 percent of their salary as a representative, which means around 1,092-3,000 euros per month, depending on their income.
 The controversial aspect of this arrangement is that dividend income and capital gains are not counted when calculating deductions.
 This led to a situation where former representative Bert Häggblom could claim the money for twelve years even though he was taking a decent income through dividends from his own company.
 There is an initiative to change the practice to align with redundancy payments made by the Finnish parliament, which were reformed in the spring, but the government may yet decline to make the changes.
 Best shop in the world?
 Finland was all a-flutter earlier this year when a supermarket in Järvenpää was named as a finalist in the IGD ‘Store of the Year award competition.
 The award is an industry ceremony where grocers gather each year to network and celebrate their excellence, and this year the K-Citymarket in the Helsinki commuter belt managed to win.
 The local paper Keski-Uusimaa  spoke to  store manager Markku Hautala from the awards ceremony in London, reporting breathlessly that he was in tears at his victory.
 Most other Finnish news outlets soon followed, glorying in a Finnish triumph on the world (International Grocery Distribution) stage.
 Apparently the judges said that the Järvenpää outlet’s sushi was a clinching factor in its victory.

Friday’s papers: Tooled-up Finland, Åland politicos’ redundancy and the best shop in the world


Summary: A plan to increase capacity and reduce journey times is unlikely to attract private investors, says the Transport Ministry.

Finnish civil servants believe a plan to provide a rail service  halving journey times between Helsinki and Turku  could be difficult to fund, reports the STT news agency.
 According to STT’s reporting, officials believe the company set up to fund, plan and realise the project will find it difficult to attract private investment.
 The plan currently entails funding from central government, municipalities along the route, and private investors. If that is impossible, public bodies would shoulder the burden for funding the project.
 The project to halve journey times between Tampere and Helsinki, on the other hand, is estimated by officials as having much better prospects for external funding.
 Both projects were set in train by the previous government. This year  Antti Rinne ’sadministration announced it would establish project companies in order to secure funding from external investors.
 "Similar" projects
 The news has not gone down well in the Turku region.
 “I am quite shocked at the claim that our project is not profitable,” said  Janne Virtanen  of the Regional Council of Southwest Finland.
 “I’m waiting to hear the argumentation, what is this claim based on?”
 Virtanen claims it is impossible to state at this stage if one project might get more funding than another because there hasn't yet been any effort to find investors.
 “The projects are surely quite similar from a private investor’s point of view,” said Virtanen. “Neither project has had extensive planning yet, and the project companies have not yet been established, so it’s quite a big claim that one is more interesting [to investors] than the other.”
 The Tampere-Helsinki link is expected to attract some 6.5 million passengers a year. The ministry’s estimate for the Turku link is 1.6 million passengers annually.
 Municipalities in the region have criticised that estimate, preferring an earlier number from the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency of 2.5 million journeys per year.
 Orpo's baby
 National Coalition leader, Turku MP and former Finance Minister  Petteri Orpo  was a key advocate of the Turku project until he left office earlier this year.
 The Finance Ministry had long been sceptical of the plan, but Orpo pushed it through alongside the Tampere-Helsinki improvements.
 At the same time, according to STT, officials at the Transport Ministry were telling the government that the numbers did not add up for the Turku project’s plan to bring in investment and that it would need to be a purely publicly-funded project.
 At the time Orpo claimed that the mixed-financing model would ensure the Turku link was built much quicker than it would be if left to public funding alone.

STT: Ministry doubts private funding for fast trains to Turku


Summary: Decriminalisation will give those who need medical marijuana better access to treatment, the minister told Yle

Minister for Social Affairs and Health  Aino-Kaisa Pekonen  has said that cannabis use should not be punished.
 “'I support decriminalising cannabis use," Pekonen told Yle.
 The minister said those who need marijuana for medical purposes will have better access to treatment if they do not face criminal penalties.
 "If such use didn't lead to convictions, it would help people in seeking treatment," Pekonen said.
 A citizens' initiative calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis  recently made its way to parliament for consideration by MPs. The initiative calls for decriminalisation of possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.
 Pekonen, however, added that her views are not the Left Alliance’s official position on the citizens' initiative.
 "This is my personal view on the matter."
 Interior Minister  Maria Ohisalo  also said she was in favour of the citizens' initiative in a Facebook post last week.
 According to daily Helsingin Sanomat, Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  stated in Parliament on Thursday that the government was "not moving ahead" in eliminating punishments for cannabis use.
 Police oppose decriminalisation
 National Police Commissioner  Seppo Kolehmainen , meanwhile, takes a stricter line on cannabis. He said drug use should not be decriminalised in an MTV News interview last week.
 "Police see death, violence, abuse, prostitution, family suffering and crime in general in the world of drugs. It is terribly difficult to accept any form of legalisation of drugs,” Kolehmainen said in the television interview.
 Minister of Justice  Anna-Maja Henriksson  also  had a dim view of the citizens' initiative.  “I do not believe that it is most important to decriminalise the use of cannabis, but rather to [seek] a more effective substance abuse policy," Henriksson told Yle recently.

Health minister comes out in favour of cannabis decriminalisation


Summary: The ministry said it expects employment rate to hit 73.4 percent in 2021, a slower rate of growth than previously planned.

Employment growth will nearly come to a halt between 2020 and 2021, according to the latest labour market forecast published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on Friday.
 The labour ministry said it expects the employment rate to hit 73.4 percent in 2021, a slower rate of growth than previously planned. The employment rate is projected to rise to 72.5 per cent this year and to 73 percent in 2020.
 The  Antti Rinne -led government had pledged to raise the employment rate to 75 percent and create 60,000 new jobs by 2023.
 Unemployment rate to remain stagnant
 According to the forecast, the decline in the number of youth and long-term unemployed will stop.
 Last year, there were 256,000 unemployed job seekers, and this year their number will fall to 241,000. The number of job seekers is expected to remain at this level for the next two years, the forecast said.
 Demand for labour is also expected to fall sharply in the coming years, according to the ministry.
 Earlier this year, labour ministry officials estimated that employment would increase by 35,000 this year, but now the forecast has been readjusted to reflect a figure of 25,000.
 By next year, employment growth will be halved, and by 2021, the number of employed will increase by only 7,000, according to the numbers.
 Global economic situation hits Finland
 The labour ministry forecast is in line with the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Finland’s predictions that economic growth in Finland will slow down.
 The finance ministry had predicted economic growth of 1.5 per cent this year, after which it said that GDP growth will slow down to 1 per cent.
 The slowdown in world trade growth is reflected in the weakening of export and investment growth in Finland, the labour ministry explained. Finland's economic growth will be largely dependent on domestic demand and especially private consumption, the forecast added.

Labour ministry predicts slower growth in employment


Summary: Thanks to stricter pollution laws, toxin levels have been dropping steadily in the Baltic.

Herring is one of the most common species of fish in the Baltic Sea, but sales of it for human food are restricted by the EU. Lower concentrations of dioxins and PCB compounds could remove restrictions on selling and exporting this abundant fish species. Now most of the catch goes to feed fur animals and farmed fish, with dioxins removed during the process of making fishmeal.
 Figures released by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Thursday show that concentrations of these environmental toxins have dropped by as much as 80 percent over the last 40 years.
 Crucially, even toxin levels in large herring of 19cm or more in length now fall below the maximum limit values for these toxins set by the EU for fish and fish products. Larger, older herring contain larger toxin concentrations.
 As concentrations of dioxin and PCB compounds in wild Baltic herring may exceed the legislative maximum allowable limits, the EU only allows the sale of fish over 17cm in Finland and Sweden.
 For a 19cm herring, the average dioxin and PCB level is now around four, well below the EU maximum of 6.5, THL researcher  Panu Rantakokko  tells Yle.
 Benefits outweigh risk
 According to the THL, the health benefits of eating Baltic herring outweighs the slight health risk posed by their low levels of dioxins.
 “It is safe to eat domestic fish when complying with the Finnish Food Authority’s recommendations. Fish contains beneficial fatty acids, numerous vitamins and minerals as well as a large amount of protein. Eating fish will prevent ailments such as cardiovascular disease,” THL Research Professor  Hannu Kiviranta  said in a statement.
 If the maximum size allowable for export was raised from 17 to 19cm, that would allow Finnish fishing companies to sell herring and products made from them to other EU countries.
 Rantakokko points out that fish between 17 and 19cm made up 27 percent of the herring catch in the Bothnian Sea last year, meaning that a sizeable chunk of the catch is not available for export.
 He says the ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for negotiating with the European Commission on such issues.
 The THL and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) say that thanks to stricter pollution laws, toxin levels have been dropping steadily in the Baltic and predict that by 2022 even 21cm herring will be safe by EU standards. That is close to the maximum length for the small silvery fish.
 Last year, herring accounted for 126 million kilos of the total fish catch in Finnish territorial waters, which was 148 million kilos.

Toxin levels in Baltic herring drop significantly, spurring export hopes


Summary: Unemployment benefits and income support are particularly at risk of being paid late, says the social insurance agency.

Helsingin ja Uudenmaan sairaanhoitopiiri

The postal strike which is due to start on Monday could delay payment of benefits from Kela, the country's social insurance institution. The strike by Posti workers is scheduled to last twoweeks.
 Unemployment benefits and income support are particularly at risk of being overdue, according to Kela.
 The institution points out that applications and documents sent by customers may not reach Kela in time due to the strike, causing delay in decisions.
 "This affects benefits where applications are pending, further clarification is expected, or the actual application has to be mailed to us," says  Matti Happonen  of Kela.
 Officials are advising customers to fill in their applications using Kela's online service or report their notification of unemployment using its phone service. Applications and other attachments can be also dropped off directly at Kela’s service points.
 "Online services are the first (choice), as everything else will be congested," Happonen added.
 Around 22,000 patient letters undelivered
 Hospitals across Finland are also bracing for the impact of the postal strike.
 Tampere University Hospital (TAYS) has calculated that 22,000 of its letters will remain undelivered during the strike. They will include invitations to treatment, patient update letters and invoices.
 "It is very likely that most letters will not be delivered during the strike," the hospital's Communications Specialist  Anni Vähälä  said.
 TAYS has extended the payment period for invoices from the usual 14 to 30 days because of the strike.
 Meanwhile, Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) officials said they had instructed doctors to process urgent referrals from the beginning of November so that patients could be notified in time.
 “We want to ensure patients' care regardless of the postal strike, which is why we have prepared ourselves for the situation in advance,” HUS' Chief Administrative Physician,  Teppo Heikkilä,  said in a statement.
 Hospital officials at both the Tampere and Helsinki university hospitals have said that they will contact patients with urgent needs by phone.
 Letters concerning treatment feedback and patient updates that may not be delivered during this period can be viewed electronically in the patient records database  Omakanta , hospital officials said.
 Enforcement offices to be affected
 The National Administrative Office for Enforcement is preparing for the postal strike by postponing payment requests. Recovery invoices will also not be mailed during the strike, officials said in a statement.
 New payment requests suspended during the strike won’t be visible in the enforcement office’s electronic service. However, customers can view and handle all matters that were pending before the strike, the statement said.
 Postal workers’ representatives  announced the strike  after a failure to reach an agreement with Posti on a new deal covering wages, terms and conditions in the sector. Some 9,000 workers in mail delivery, handling and transportation jobs are to stay off the job from 6 am on Monday, 11 November until midnight on Sunday, 24 November.

Posti strike to delay Kela payments, hospital letters


Summary: Finnish dads could take more leave, police say dashboard cams are ok, and Lapland needs more workers.

Looking at a newly released study,  Helsingin Sanomat reports  Finnish fathers on average take only 11 percent of the paid paternity leave they are entitled to after the birth of a child. While the figure is close to the same in Denmark, in Norway it is around 20 percent and in Sweden and Iceland nearly 30 percent.
 The paper notes that according to Finland's social insurance institution Kela some 70 percent of Finnish fathers do take time off right after the birth of a child, but  fewer than half take advantage of full benefits . Around a quarter don't take paternity leave at all.
 While noting that attitudes have changed, making it more acceptable for fathers to take a break from their careers to look after their children, HS says that we are still far from an equal division of child care between men and women.
 This new study shows that women in all the Nordic countries still spend more time at home and more time with their children than do men.
 The study claims that the determining factor in how much paternity leave is taken does not depend so much on personal choice or the employer's attitude, but more on social policy. The more weeks of childcare leave that are specifically reserved for fathers, not split between parents, the more time they take off.
 In Finland, where paternity leave levels are low, nine weeks of leave are available specifically for fathers and a further 26 can be taken by either parent. In contrast, in Sweden both the father and mother can each take their own 13 weeks off work and then divide up a further 43 as they see fit.
 The study, carried out by the Nordic Council of Ministers, indicates that fathers who take longer paternity leaves are on average happier with their relationships with both their partners and their children, and more satisfied with life in general.
 Postal strike and "scab labour"
 Several papers, including  Tampere's Aamulehti , report that the government's minister in charge of state ownership steering,  Sirpa Paatero , has issued a demand for the Posti postal services company to put an end to the use of temporary agency-supplied personnel for the duration of the ongoing  postal workers' strike .
 In a statement to the STT news agency, Paatero said that state-owned companies, under no circumstances, should use what she described as "scab labour".
 "The position of the state as an owner is extremely clear. For this reason I have instructed Posti management, in order to avoid any ambiguity and to promote a settlement, to end the use of temporary workers for the duration of the strike," she said.
 Paatero added that she will have talks with Posti directors on Thursday about how her demand is to be met.
 Since the start of labour action on Monday, Posti has replaced some striking employees by contracting temporary workers from employment agencies.
 Dashboard cam caveat
 The Oulu-based  Kaleva writes  that increasing numbers of dashboard-mounted digital cameras are to be found in cars here in Finland.
 "Dashboard cameras have clearly become more common in vehicles, and the police have nothing against this, if they are used correctly," Oulu police inspector  Pasi Rissanen  told the paper. "They can be a help in determining what has happened during an accident, as generally the parties to an accident have very different views of what happened."
 According to Rissanen, nowadays when investigating accidents police patrols always check to see if any of the vehicles involved have dashboard cameras. However, he noted that it is not yet common that a party to an accident immediately offers up a video recording.
 However there are some legal issues that need to be considered regarding these devices. Posting recordings online may, in some cases, violate privacy laws.
 "Here we move from traffic laws to a different type of legislation. One should consider if it offends someone or alleges guilt. Also, defamation laws may come into play in such cases," says Inspector Rissanen.
 Workers for Lapland
 Rovaniemi's  Lapin Kansa  writes that the region of Finnish Lapland is likely to soon see the creation of thousands of new jobs, but it asks the question, where new workers will be found to take up these jobs.
 The paper points to the likely opening of two new mines and two new wood processing plants in Lapland within the next few years.
 According to Lapin Kansa, the impact of these projects will be dramatically positive for the region's economy, creating perhaps more than 3,000 new jobs and pushing up employment by 5 percent.
 This could boost the population by 3 percent, bringing more people to live in Lapland than move away. Regional services should improve. Regional and local governments should take in more tax revenues.
 The paper admits that "the big bears have yet to be shot", meaning that none of projects are 100 percent certain, but they all look very likely.
 The problem is that even as early as during the construction phase, these projects will need thousands of workers who are not to be found in Lapland. Additionally, some of the mining operations will be in remote areas, far from anywhere, and it will be hard to recruit professionals, especially those with families.
 Lapin Kansa concludes that the search for workers will have to be extended abroad, which the paper says will not be easy since competition globally for skilled professionals is fierce. This has already become evident in  Lapland's tourism sector , another field with bright prospects for further growth.

Thursday's papers: Paternity leave slackers, dashboard cams, and jobs go begging in Lapland


Summary: The Finns Party chair scored far higher than any other party leaders, and far better than he did last spring.

Jussi Halla-aho , chair of the nationalist Finns Party, led by a clear margin when Finns were asked which party leader has been most successful in their post. Nearly a quarter of respondents chose Halla-aho when presented with a list of party chairs.
 Only Left Alliance chair  Li Andersson  came anywhere near, selected by 16 percent of respondents. The leaders of the other half-dozen parties in Parliament all scored below 10 percent support.
 Last month, Jyväskylä-based pollster Tietoykkönen queried more than 1,000 people for the Uutissuomalainen newspaper group, which published the findings on Saturday.
 Nearly one third of respondents were unable to pick an effective party leader when offered a list of the chairs of all parties and groups in the legislature.
 Support for Halla-aho, Andersson up since spring
 Since a similar poll was carried out in April, Halla-aho's support rose by 10 percentage points, from 14 to 24 percent.
 Halla-aho, 48, has led the populist party since mid-2017, when he replaced founder  Timo Soini , who left to form a splinter group which has since collapsed. The Finns Party has been in opposition since then,  leading public opinion polls  for most of this year. In 2012, Halla-aho was convicted of  inciting hatred  against an ethnic group.
 Andersson, 32, has led her party since mid-2016, becoming Education Minister this past summer. Her support in this poll rose from 12 percent last spring to 16 percent in October.
 Faring best of the other chairs was former finance minister  Petteri Orpo  of the opposition National Coalition Party, who garnered eight percent support, up from six percent last spring.
 Prime Minister  Antti Rinne  of the SDP was chosen by just six percent of respondents, down from seven percent in April.
 The Centre and Greens have new chairs since then, and the results for the other groups in Parliament were too low to be statistically significant. The USU online survey's margin is estimated to be around three percentage points in either direction.

Poll: Halla-aho most successful party leader


Summary: The trade union claims that employers have the "long-term aim of junking our labour market system".

Collective agreement negotiations between the Industrial Union and the Chemical Industry Federation have broken off without progress, the trade union said on Saturday.
 "The reason for the interruption is the employers' side's rude behaviour in the negotiations," the union said in a statement.
 It cited the industry federation's suggestion that companies would stop collecting union membership dues from employees through their paychecks, a move that is unacceptable to workers. The union says it will not return to the bargaining table until the proposal is rescinded.
 A day earlier, the union announced that a ban on overtime work that took effect this week will be extended by more than a week.
 "Junking our labour market system"
 According to  Toni Laiho , the union's chief negotiator for the chemical sector, the industry's proposal of phasing out membership due collection indicates its "long-term aim of junking our labour market system, which is based on contracts and negotiation. Collection of membership dues is the kind of issue that we will not negotiate on, though," he added.
 On Friday the Industrial Union extended an overtime ban in the technology industry, the sheet metal and industrial insulation sector and ore mines as well as Defence Ministry staff. The ban, which was imposed in these sectors on Monday will now continue until 24 November instead of 15 November as originally planned. It covers more than 100,000 employees.
 The Chemical Industry Federation of Finland represents nearly 400 member companies including Neste, Nokian Tyres and Tikkurila. The Industrial Union oversees 34 collective bargaining agreements, in fields ranging from heavy industry and mining to agriculture, forestry and some building trades.

Contracts talks break off in chemical industry


Summary: Airport officials expect the annual passenger volume to rise from the current 20 million to around 30 million.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a loan of 150 million euros to Finnish airport operator Finavia to upgrade its flagship Helsinki Airport.
 The funding is for the fourth stage of the airport's long-term development programme, which is to expand Terminal 2 and improve its ground transport links. The most obvious change will be a new main entrance to the terminal, says Finavia CEO  Kimmo Mäki .
 "The final stage of the development programme focuses on passengers' arrival at and departure from the airport," Mäki says.
 The programme, which began in 2013, is to wrap up in 2022. Its overall price tag is expected to be around a billion euros. Airport officials expect the annual passenger volume to rise from the current level of around 20 million to 30 million.
 In 1998, the airport was used by 9.4 million travellers. By last year that had more than doubled to nearly 20.8 million.
 "We're preparing to ensure we have more capacity for Asia-bound widebodied aircraft," says Mäki. National air carrier Finnair has seen strong growth on its Asian routes in recent years.
 New train-to-the-plane links?
 A new tunnel will be dug to connect Terminal 2 to the existing commuter rail station, but its design will also allow for possible future link to long-distance trains. The airport in Vantaa is about half an hour from central Helsinki, or slightly less to the Pasila mainline rail hub.
 The airport's bus and taxi areas will also be redesigned, and a new parking area will offer space for 1,800 vehicles.
 Finavia and the EIB signed the loan agreement on Friday in Helsinki. Signing on behalf of the bank was its Vice-President, former Finnish PM  Alexander Stubb .

Helsinki Airport expands again: EU lends 150mn for new main entrance and train station tunnel


Summary: Finland has seven official flag days, however residents may fly flags for other occasions.

Father’s Day has become an official flag day for the first time in Finland, placing it on the same level as Mother’s Day. Flags were run up the pole from 8am on Sunday morning to mark the occasion.
 In March, the Council of State endorsed a change to related regulations that  made the celebration of dads an official flag day . Prior to that, it had become a flag day in practice rather than in law.
 "Eliminating the difference is in part a message from the state that parenthood is equally about joy and responsibility," said then-Interior Minister  Kai Mykkänen .
 Freedom to fly the Finnish flag
 Regulations governing flag-raising days introduced in 1978 have only been changed once before, in 1996.
 Finland currently has seven official annual flag days. In addition to these dates, Finland flies flags on election days and when the president is inaugurated.
 Helsinki University’s official national calendar also includes 12 other flag days. In principle, there is very little difference between official flag days and the events that have become flag-flying occasions over time,  according to the interior ministry .
 Government agencies and institutions are obliged to put up a flag on official flag days. The interior ministry has advised that residents can fly flags on established occasions in the same way as on official flag days.
 Either way people in Finland are free to fly the flag or not: everyone has the right to raise the national flag whenever needed – for a festive occasion, in mourning or as a mark of respect.

Finland officially raises flags for Father's Day


Summary: Last year fewer than half of new fathers took paternity leave after their partners had returned to work.

Less than 10 percent of fathers (nine percent) with kids born in 2016 have taken all of their parental leave, according to  a report from benefits agency Kela  (in Finnish).The number of mothers who opted for maternity leave was 91 percent.
 Last year, fathers took on average 36 days of parental and paternity leave, with more than two-thirds of dads opting to stay home with a newborn at the same time that their partners were home with the baby.
 Fewer than half of fathers independently took parental leave after mothers had returned to work. A quarter of dads did not take any parental leave at all, a proportion that has remained more or less the same in recent years, Kela noted in the report.
 The agency said that the number of fathers who received parental allowance in 2018 was 59,600, down 2.5 percent from 2017. It attributed the slight fall to  the declining birth rate .
 Gender roles likely at play
 Finland wants to  overhaul the parental leave system  in a bid to lengthen parental leave and ensure gender equality. The previous government hoped the measure would encourage more dads to stay at home with their youngsters and in so doing  reverse the ongoing slump in the birth rat e.
 Johanna Närvi , a research specialist with the National Institute of Health and Welfare THL, said that another reason that fathers may not be staying home with their new family members is baked-in views about gender roles.
 "The division of labour has evolved over a very long time," she added.
 However Närvi noted that it’s not possible to say categorically that fathers don’t want parental leave or that mothers will not let them take it. She said it was more the case that since mothers are the ones to initially stay at home with a young child, they are more likely to continue caring for them at home.
 "The the more difficult it is to think that dad would take his turn to stay home. Of course fathers also take longer parental leaves but it is not that common," she the researcher continued.
 Leave more complicated for small employers
 Paternity leave in Finland runs 54 days or about nine weeks. Fathers can take a maximum of 18 days paternity leave at the same time that their partners are on maternity leave or are receiving a parental allowance. They can take the rest of their paternity leave once this period is over.
 According to Kela, last year just fewer than 60,000 fathers and around 80,000 mothers received the parental allowance.
 Närvi speculated that one reason more fathers do not take parental leave is that it may be difficult for employers to organise substitutes to cover weeks of paternity leave. It is rare for firms to hire temporary workers while fathers are on leave, prompting many men to avoid having their work distributed to others or going unattended altogether.
 "This is one significant reason why [men] have problems going on long periods of leave," Närvi noted.
 She also pointed out that small firms see family leave as tricky when it comes to covering both maternity and paternity leave. If even one employee is absent it complicates work routines far more than in larger workplaces.
 Few men take child care leave
 Ralf Holmlund , a chief shop steward at power systems firm Wärtsilä’s Vaasa facility, said that the company is generally open to paternity leave. He added that fathers working at the firm make good use of the option to care for their infants at home.
 Employees tend to travel a lot for work, with young fathers often having to make trips far and wide., he noted. Holmlund said this may be the reason that they are given the opportunity to make full use of their parental leave.
 Hannele Jakosuo , senior vice president for human resources, safety and procurement at oil company Neste, said that the firm is committed to gender equality and egalitarianism. She added that the company provides support for both mothers and fathers to take parental leave.
 "Men’s parental leave has been part of the company’s gender equality and equal opportunity plan in Finland. We encourage fathers to take paternity leave and we monitor implementation," she wrote in an email.
 Jakosuo said that while men do exercise their right to paternity and parental leave, few request child care leave in relation to the number of children born into their families. She noted that Neste also supports work and family life balance by facilitating flexible hours and remote working.
 Some dads eager to take leave
 At another large Finnish employer, elevator firm Kone, roughly 200 fathers have used part of their paternity leave entitlement, according to HR director  Elina Jokinen . A somewhat smaller number has used all of their available leave. She noted that the practice cuts across all personnel groups.
 Jokinen added that there has been an uptick in men going off on paternity in recent years, a development she described as positive.
 "We encourage the use of paternity leave and also the balanced use of family leave," she declared.
 The HR director also noted however that the number of dads receiving the child home care allowance is still considerably smaller than the number of men who take parental leave.

Report: Dads still slow to take advantage of paternity leave


Summary: Sectoral wage talks have been haunted by the question of whether or not workers have been illegally working extra hours.

A court ruling in favour of an engineering sector employee who challenged a tri-partite deal to extend working hours suggests other workers may have been illegally working longer hours. However the ruling is not yet final.
 Collective bargaining agreements ongoing this autumn have been complicated by uncertainty over a competitiveness deal between the previous government and labour market organisations.
 Among other things,  the agreement introduced an additional 24 hours of work annually  in a bid to lower the unit cost of labour.
 Employee representatives are now questioning whether or not the measure was even legal. Last week,  the Länsi-Uusimaa district court ruled that  the number of working hours written into an employment contract cannot be extended on the basis of the so-called competitiveness pact.
 At the time, the court ordered the employer in the case to compensate the employee for the additional hours of work done.
 The ruling is not yet enforceable, since the employer intends to appeal the verdict.
 "Significant number" possibly working too long
 The ruling involved a member of the Union of Professional Engineers. The union told Yle that it estimated that thousands of senior clerical employees might have been similarly affected. In essence it would mean that employees whose job contracts specified a certain number of working hours that were not tied to the sector’s collective bargaining agreement.
 The union’s advocacy director  Petteri Oksa  stressed to Yle that the precise number of professionals affected is not yet known.
 "We have a gut feeling based on discussions with people and it is a significant number. It could be up to half of all senior staff, which means tens of thousands of contracts," he added.
 Oksa pointed out that said that the legality of the additional competitiveness-boosting hours constitutes a contract dispute between an individual worker and his or her employee.
 "This is an individual matter and not a case for the union. Everyone will have to walk down this road if they want to challenge it. It’s essential for everyone to decide how important it is to them," he declared.
 However Oksa said he would advise workers to discuss the matter with both employer and employee representatives if they suspect that the competitiveness pact has violated their own job contracts.
 Professor: No room for doubt in law
 Eastern Finland labour law associate professor  Jaana Paanetoja  said that there is no room for doubt in Finnish law.
 "If a job contract has agreed a better deal – in this case shorter working hours – then according to our laws, no collective agreement can supersede that individual agreement," she explained.
 However working hours in most labour contracts are tied to sector-based collective bargaining agreements, and which legally have the contested additional working hours legally added to them.
 Last week’s court ruling will affect employers that are members of the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries. The union’s negotiations director  Jarkko Ruohoniemi  said that in his view, it was perfectly legal to add the competitiveness pact’s additional hours, regardless of personal job contracts. He added that there is no need to revisit the deal.
 He pointed out that the matter was agreed following negotiations over the competitiveness pact with employee representatives. He noted that the workers’ union also accepted the pact along with other employee groups.
 "It was specifically agreed that all working hours would be extended. It was also explicitly discussed that we have many employees with 37.5-hour work weeks and that it [longer hours] would also include them," Ruohoniemi continued.
 Court ruling not final
 The employer representative said that the court decision is not final and that it is likely it will go all the way to the Supreme Court. He also pointed to a labour tribunal statement handed over to the Southwest Finland district court, where another similar challenge to the competitiveness pact is being heard.
 "In that case it was stated that the competitiveness pact could in fact extend everyone’s working time."
 Ruohoniemi said that he didn’t believe that the case will generate enough hype to lead to a wave of new trials. He urged the union’s member companies to hold to the extended working hours, even if some employees challenge the measure.
 "I would advise everyone to keep a cool head," he counselled.
 Employees thinking of challenging the extended working hours in court would do well to move fast however. The claim period for issues of this kind is two years and the competitiveness pact took effect in 2017.

Union: Thousands possibly working extra hours illegally


Summary: A dispute over terms and conditions of work lies at the heart of the industrial action.

The Post and Logistics Union PAU announced on Sunday that it would be extending planned strike action by two weeks. The union said that  a strike due to begin on Monday  and end on 24 November, will now run until 8 December if a new collective bargaining agreement is not settled.
 PAU said that it announced the additional two-week work stoppage in a bid to speed up negotiations with the employer, national mail carrier Posti. Employer and employee representatives have reached gridlock over terms and conditions of work.
 The strike extension will affect mail carriers as well as employees working in mail sorting, deliveries and others working in clerical and sales positions across the country – a total of 10,000 personnel. The strike will not affect early-morning newspaper deliveries.
 The first phase of the strike that was previously announced will involve 9,000 workers and will begin at 6am on Monday. It will cause chronic delays in letter and parcel deliveries and sympathy strikes by other industries could exacerbate the impact of the industrial action.
 Employee representatives are particularly irked by Posti’s plans to transfer 700 packaging and e-commerce workers to a different collective bargaining agreement.
 These workers would no longer be covered by a collective agreement for the communications and logistics sector and would instead fall under an agreement brokered by the Media Union and the Federation of Finnish Industries.
 Negotiations between the parties will resume on Wednesday under the leadership of the state conciliator.

Postal workers extend strike until December


Summary: The Finnish press today reports on stories from Helsinki and Syria.

Helsingin Sanomat (HS) leads with an investigation and some number-crunching on what’s needed for Greater Helsinki’s new mega malls to succeed .
 According to the experts interviewed by HS there is an oversupply of shopping centres in Greater Helsinki.
 The evidence for that claim is the recent opening of Mall of Tripla in Pasila, which joins Redi in Kalasatama and Aino in Tapiola, alongside an expansion of Iso Omena shopping centre in Espoo.
 HS doubts there will be enough customers for all the new centres to succeed.
 “For all of the area’s shopping centres to succeed, Tripla and the other new malls need to find new customers who will spend about one billion euros annually,” leading retail expert  Henrik Winberg  tells HS.
 Pasila’s Tripla, which opened in October, has about 250 shops and 85,000 square metres of space. Located at Pasila train station, a major commuter thoroughfare, Tripla broke the two-million-visitor mark less than a month after opening.
 According to HS, the 20 largest shopping centres in the Greater Helsinki area sold a total of 2.9 billion euros worth of stuff in 2018. The region is home to about 1.5 million residents, a figure which is growing by 16,000 people annually.
 According to Winberg the new residents alone have a spending power of 120 to 150 million euros a year.
 He cautioned that a billion euros is a lot of money and it needs to come from somewhere.
 Yet, “the idea that if one succeeds another will fail doesn’t apply here," Winberg told the paper. "Competition will be tight but that doesn’t mean that one centre will go under [at the expense of another's success]."
 Six-year-old Finnish boy at al-Hol
 Meanwhile,  Ilta-Sanomat (IS), the sister tabloid of HS, cites a Sky News story that claims a six-year-old boy at the al-Hol refugee camp in northern Syria is from Finland .
 The British cable news channel Sky News visited the camp and in a video report captured the shocking and dangerous conditions at the camp, which Yle has  extensively reported on previously . The Sky News reporter also interviewed children living at the camp. One of them, writes IS, was a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy, who said his name is Yousef.
 When asked where he was from, the boy answered “Finlandi.”
 About 70,000 people are at the camp, and the children’s fate is a huge international problem that doesn’t appear to have an immediate solution, writes IS.
 "Finest daycare of all time"
 Iltalehti tabloid runs a story about what it bills as possibly the "finest daycare of all time,"  as a three-storey centre opens in Vantaa on Tuesday.
 According to Iltalehti, the highlights include a number of different ways for transporting children to the outdoor playground, such as a special super-size elevator for transporting large groups of small children, and a crocodile-slide that leads directly to the playground.

Monday’s papers: Store wars, Finnish child at al-Hol, and a mega daycare


Summary: A stipulation that the cap must always remain with the bottle will lead to an increase in the use of plastic.

A new EU  directive  aimed at tackling plastic waste may lead to major changes to Finland's bottle return system, according to Palpa, the company responsible for the collection, recycling and reuse of beverage packages.
 The directive requires that caps are connected to bottles at all stages of the product life cycle, thereby necessitating a new design.
 "There is a big risk that the current well-functioning bottle return system will be jeopardised and consumers' willingness to recycle may be weakened," Palpa's director of services  Tommi Vihavainen  told Yle.
 The directive will be introduced over the next 5 years and aims to reduce the amount of plastic in the world's oceans and seas, currently estimated to be about 150 million tons.
 However, a loose swinging cap on a bottle placed into a returns container could potentially compromise the bottle's identification. If the bottle is not recognised, the consumer will not receive the deposit.
 In Finland, where 460 million plastic bottles are returned every year, this could potentially lead to consumers finding alternative means of disposing of unwanted plastic.
 Vihavainen pointed out that Finns are generally in the habit of returning plastic bottles with the cap still attached.
 "According to our survey, almost all returned plastic bottles have a cap, only 4 percent are returned without it," Vihavainen said.
 Increased use of plastic
 Finland's Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry also issued a response to the EU's directive, warning that the new design will lead to an increase in the use of plastic.
 "According to our calculations, the directive will increase the use of plastic by at least one gram per bottle,"  Riikka Pakarinen , the Federation's CEO, told Yle.
 This represents an increase of almost half a million extra kilograms in the consumption of plastic, according to Pakarinen, or the equivalent in weight of about 300 cars.
 For the brewing industry, the new directive may not only mean an increase in the use of plastic, but will also require major further investment. For example, the entire beverage production and transportation system may need to be overhauled.
 "This means huge investment for companies", Pakarinen said.

EU Directive threatens Finland’s bottle return system


Summary: The union representing postal workers said striking employees will stage a demonstration in Helsinki on Tuesday.

The postal workers’ union PAU says workers will demonstrate in Helsinki, even as it has accused national mail company Posti of hiring scab labour during  a strike that began on Monday .
 On Monday the union charged that Posti cut a hole in a fence at a sorting centre in southwest Finland to allow temporary labourers in to do the work of striking employees.
 Union president  Heidi Nieminen  told news agency STT that the temp workers filling in for striking Posti employees have been put under heavy pressure by the mail company.
 Nieminen said that the replacement workers, who all have zero-hours contracts, were told that if they do not show up for work during the strike, they would never be hired again.
 Employer and employee representatives had divergent views on the nature of the breach in the fence. PAU / Lehtikuva
 The alleged hole was cut into the fence at the Lieto sorting centre near Turku, southwest Finland. However Posti said that there was no hole, rather, the fence was cut simply to create a more convenient access route for workers.
 "The extra gate in question had to do with the fact that it’s a significantly shorter route to walk from the parking lot to the sorting centre than along the roadway," Posti head of exception management  Jarmo Ainasoja  said on Radio Suomi on Monday morning.
 Demonstration over contentious wage talks
 Postal union members began strike action at 6am on Monday. The industrial action was initially planned to last two weeks. However PAU announced on Sunday that the strike  could stretch to four weeks  if no progress is made in wage talks with the employer Posti. The strike is expected to cause  delays in parcel and letter deliveries  across the country.
 On Monday, the union announced it planned a demonstration in Helsinki at 1.00pm on Tuesday. Workers will protest poorer terms and conditions of work  in a new collective agreement proposed by Posti . Protesters will congregate at the parking lot next to the Ilmala train station in Pasila before proceeding to the Posti head office.
 Discontent over "spineless" workers
 The strike by an estimated 9,000 postal workers is expected to affect mail and parcel deliveries in various parts of the country to different degrees.
 In Northern Savo, 450 workers have embarked on the work stoppage, disrupting distribution of morning newspapers. The local media company, Savon Media said that it opened up its online paper so that non-subscribers could follow the news.
 In northern Ostrobothnia, nearly all mail delivery , sorting and transportation workers affected by the contentious wage talks have joined the industrial action. Meanwhile  Jyrki Sutinen , chief shop steward for unionised workers in Lapland, said that about 300 employees in the region are on strike.
 PAU chief shop steward for the Pirkanmaa region,  Leo Harra  said that temp workers had been hired to try and break the strike.
 "Government official  Sirpa Paatero  has said that temporary personnel cannot [be used to] break up a legal strike. Unfortunately even some of our own people are spineless. However they’ve still been happy to have all of the benefits of union membership," Harra charged. Paatero is the government minister responsible for oversight of state-owned firms such as Posti.
 Posti: Parcel deliveries still "reasonably good"
 Posti’s Ainasoja noted that some workers have defied the order to strike and have shown up for work. However he could not provide a precise count.
 "It’s a fluid situation because shifts begin at different times," he told Radio Suomi.
 "We have personnel who come to work regardless of a strike, as well as fixed-term workers who had been previously hired," he added.
 Ainasoja speculated that there would be few letter deliveries on Monday. But he said that parcel deliveries had been working "reasonably well".
 "It seems that we can maintain mechanical sorting at the sorting centres," he explained.

Postal workers plan Helsinki protest amid acrimonious start to strike