SAK seeks to avert disaster by restoring Nordic values to Finland
SAK is calling for the next Finnish Parliament to restore labour market confidence and guide the nation back into the Nordic mainstream. The organisation announced its goals for the next electoral period on Monday 30 March.
The current government has introduced several labour market measures to strengthen the hand of employers at the expense of employees and the unemployed. SAK wants the next government to correct this distortion.
“The fear that our government has instilled in Finnish workers has become a covert obstacle to progress in the economy and thereby in society as a whole. Our faith in a fair labour market and future must be restored by no later than the next electoral period,” insists SAK President Jarkko Eloranta.
SAK is calling for a return to the Nordic mainstream. We need Nordic elements in both the labour market and employment services.
“The work of government must reflect the desire to maintain an affluent society in which public authorities support the trust that people place in institutions, and in their own ability to manage various stages of life. There is no point in waving a big stick if people are not given real opportunities to influence their own circumstances.”
The SAK election goals include numerous elements to boost the status and confidence of employees, including restoring checks and balances in employment by requiring longer notice periods in cases of dismissal, limiting grounds for redundancy, and strengthening the rights of casual workers.
We have several constructive proposals for rebalancing the labour market. What’s more, they will cost almost nothing to implement.
The labour market should also be restructured. The status of the National Conciliator should be reinforced through in-house information gathering and greater autonomy. Legislation on local collective bargaining should be enhanced by shifting the prerogative of interpretation to the employee side, and by reviewing checks and balances in statutes governing the right to strike. A broader definition of general applicability of collective agreements should also be introduced to ensure minimum terms and conditions of employment in an evolving labour market.
“We have several constructive proposals for rebalancing the labour market. What’s more, they will cost almost nothing to implement, and are accordingly consistent with measures to reduce the national debt. Any genuine shift towards the Nordic model will require rebalancing the labour market in favour of employees and a check on the growing power of employers,” Eloranta explains.
SAK is also calling for measures to tackle undesirable trends in the world of work, and its election goals accordingly call attention to rampant labour market criminality.
“We have already proposed a broad package of concrete measures to combat labour market crime. For example, underpayment should be criminalised, with trade unions also given an independent right to sue employers. Public authorities also need more instruments and resources,” Jarkko Eloranta observes.
With the current government term already exposing a political dimension to defending employee interests, it has become important for SAK to air its own views both during and after elections. We cannot accept a reduction of national collective bargaining to backroom deals between the government and employer representatives that entirely sideline employee trade unions.
“These laws that undermine the status of employees will hopefully be the swansong of collusion between the political right and the business community. The next government term must see a return to genuine collective bargaining.”
The 59 goals of SAK to improve the world of work for the 2027–2031 electoral period may be viewed in full at www.sak.fi/tavoitteet (in Finnish).
The next parliamentary elections in Finland will take place on 18 April 2027.