Crucial elec­tions

In January, the Industrial Union publis­hed a compre­hen­sive docu­ment concer­ning its goals for the next parlia­men­tary mandate period 2023–2027. The main problem is wage and salary earners’ sinking purc­ha­sing power, due to the high infla­tion rate and energy crisis.

Weake­ning purc­ha­sing power is seriously threa­te­ning domes­tic demand and a posi­tive emplo­y­ment deve­lop­ment and can make the econo­mic reces­sion longer.

In 2016, the right-wing govern­ment forced the unions to accept a trans­fer of a part of the emplo­yees’ social insu­rance cont­ri­bu­tions from emplo­yers to emplo­yees. Rescin­ding this measure would bring rapid and balanced bene­fits, the union says.

Anot­her key issue in the elec­tions will be unemplo­y­ment secu­rity. The right-wing parties advocate cuts: the Natio­nal Coali­tion Party wants to halve the earnings-rela­ted unemplo­y­ment benefits.

Finnish law and collec­tive agree­ments must be followed, the union demands.

Should this become law, the Industrial Union esti­ma­tes that up to 10,000 skil­led industrial workers  in the union sectors would be forced to accept only basic social security.

In respect of foreign labour and immi­grants in working life, the union has often witnes­sed exploi­ta­tion. Under­pay­ment, too long working days, denying holi­days and lack of breaks are never the emplo­yees’ fault, but always the emplo­yers’ fault, the union stresses.

With regard to all emplo­y­ment in Finland, Finnish law and collec­tive agree­ments must be followed, the union demands. To reach this, better legis­la­tion against disc­ri­mi­na­tion is needed, toget­her with effec­tive law enforcement.

The role of unions is extre­mely impor­tant in defen­ding foreign workers, who are often in a vulne­rable posi­tion. The Industrial Union is ready to do its part in this work.

But, first we need a Parlia­ment that supports workers’ issues. And this rests in the hands of the electorate.

When and where to vote?

Many things in our daily life depend on the results of these elec­tions. Parlia­ment adopts laws, deci­des the state budget and the govern­ment must enjoy the confi­dence of Parliament.

The actual elec­tion day is Sunday 2 April when the polling stations are open from 09.00 until 20.00. There are a total of 1,808 polling stations around the country.

On the elec­tion day, you may only vote at your own local polling station. This is indica­ted in the voting card you will receive in the post. When voting, an official photo ID is necessary.

Voting is made by writing only the number for the candi­date – against each candidate’s name is a number – of your choice on the ballot paper, and nothing else.

Anot­her possi­bi­lity is to vote in advance from 22 to 28 March. Again, an official photo ID is neces­sary. There are 958 places to vote in advance, usually in city halls, libra­ries or shop­ping centres.

You can vote in any of these, but remem­ber to check the right number of your cons­ti­tuency candi­date, as there are 13 cons­ti­tuencies in Finland.

See detai­led infor­ma­tion on elec­tions on the web page vaalit.fi/en.