The Finnish Government’s anti-racism campaign is a disgraceful cover-up attempt – Trade Union JHL cancels its participation
Trade Union JHL will not take part in Prime Minister Orpo’s government’s antiracism campaign. JHL sees this campaign as a disgraceful attempt to cover up policies that undermine equality.
Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL sees the Finnish Government’s soon-to-be-launched campaign “Me puhumme teoin” (“We speak with action” in English) as a dishonest attempt to cover up policies that are historically discriminatory and harsh on immigrants.
– We thank warmly all experts who have participated in the planning of this campaign for their good work. Unfortunately, the Government’s actions blatantly conflict with the objectives of the campaign, says JHL’s Chief Executive Officer Mari Keturi.
– We speak with action, and therefore we cancel our participation in this campaign. If the government parties commit to taking action instead of being evasive, we will be happy to get involved, Keturi stresses.
In the campaign organisations and employers who have been invited to join the antiracism work draw up their own commitments for measures in their organisations. These measures include for example creating an equality promotion plan and offering support for those who have faced racism.
– The Non-discrimination Act already obligates organisations to create these plans. It’s disgraceful of the Government to challenge others to promote equality at the same time that they want to remove individual equality promotion plans from early childhood education and care units, Keturi points out.
Almost 15,000 new members joined JHL last year, and a significant portion of them have an immigrant background. Our trade union is particularly worried about how the Government’s anti-employee and anti-immigrant policies will affect their lives. In addition to institutional racism, the Government is also making discriminatory and racist speech more accepted and mainstreaming hate speech.
– As a trade union we are committed to doing all we can to fight racism and discrimination. Therefore, we cannot participate in this campaign when the Government parties have no intention to commit to it. We see this campaign mostly as an attempt to cover up policies that undermine equality, says JHL’s immigrant activities specialist Neleah Kagiri.
Trade Union JHL will publish a guide about equality and non-discrimination this autumn.
More information:
- Chief Executive Officer Mari Keturi, tel. 050 461 9315
- Immigrant Activities Specialist Neleah Kagiri, tel. 050 431 2474