Trade unions get support from overseas: A transport workers’ union in the United States is shocked by the Finnish Government’s harsh cuts

The Government’s ruthlessness undermines the terms and conditions of employment and social security in Finland and Finland’s reputation abroad. Trade Union JHL and other transport sector trade unions have received a letter of support from Transport Workers Union of America. The trade union is shocked by the Finnish Government’s regressive policy of making cuts. The Finnish trade unions get support for their industrial action also from Indonesia.

The cuts that the Government is planning will take the atmosphere in Finland decades backwards and take us further away from the other Nordic countries. Finland will no longer be viewed as a moral world leader but a regressive country. This is how a United States trade union Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) comments the Government’s policy in Finland.

TWU has sent to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (National Coalition Party) and to the Ambassador of Finland to the United States Mikko Hautala a letter, in which the union criticises the Government’s policy of cuts. The letter is also an expression of support for JHL and other transport sector trade unions who have protested against the Government’s unfair policy with extensive strikes during the past winter.

The Finnish society is among the most successful globally. At the heart of its labour model are negotiations between employees, employers and the Government. These have led to progressive legislation and the expansion of the welfare state, TWU stresses. The union reminds that the present Government of Finland is now tearing this model apart without care.

Read the full Letter of Support here.

Support from as far as Indonesia

The cuts planned by Orpo’s government have also been noticed on the other side of the globe. Indonesian trade unions express unlimited solidarity and support for workers in Finland. The trade unions in Indonesia find the planned changes in labour laws worrying. One of the changes that has raised concern is the Government’s plan to make the first sick day unpaid. They also express concern about changes that make it easier to fire employees and erode unemployment security as well as about restrictions to the right to strike.

Support from Indonesia shows how trade unions support each other also internationally. The Trade Union Solidarity Centre of Finland SASK has worked a long time for labour rights for example in Indonesia.