Harsh plans aimed at immigrants

The Coali­tion Party got major chan­ges favou­ring emplo­yers in the labour laws, like limi­ting the right to strike, and radical cuts in welfare. The Finns Party got a long list of chan­ges to make life more difficult for foreign people living in Finland.

Propo­sals for such new legis­la­tion have not been formu­la­ted yet. Howe­ver, the Govern­ment Programme lists seve­ral pages of measu­res that would nega­ti­vely affect foreign born people living in Finland or plan­ning to move here.

One start­ling change is that those holding work-based resi­dence permits must find a new job within three months if the previous job ends. If not, he or she must leave the country, even after living and working in Finland for a long time. Emplo­yers must notify the autho­ri­ties of a termi­na­tion of emplo­y­ment of people with work-based resi­dence permits. If not, they will be penalised.

In the future, to obtain a resi­dence permit an emplo­yed person must earn the mini­mum defi­ned in the sector’s collec­tive agree­ment, but at least 1,600 euro gross income a month.

For natu­ra­li­sa­tion, the requi­red time to live in Finland is to be exten­ded to six years.

For a perma­nent resi­dence permit, one must have lived six years in Finland. That has to include two years work without a prolon­ged period of unemplo­y­ment bene­fit or social assis­tance. Also, there will be a language test in Finnish or Swedish.

With an income of more than 40 000 euro a year or acade­mic degree it is possible to get the resi­dence permit after four years in Finland.

For natu­ra­li­sa­tion, the requi­red time to live in Finland is to be exten­ded to six years. There will be a quiz-like citizens­hip test and a language test.

The govern­ment also plans to sepa­rate immi­grants’ social secu­rity from that of Finns. Read: to cut social secu­rity for immi­grants. This idea might still run into cons­ti­tu­tio­nal problems and fail. Those ille­gally in the country will have no right to health care, except in cases of emergency.

Strange three-months rule

This is right, as the rule would be not only cruel but also stupid. In many cases, we are spea­king of people who have been here for a long time and do work that is very much in demand.

When a job suddenly comes to an end, three months is quite a short time to find a new job. The emplo­y­ment process with applica­tions, inter­views and deci­sion-making easily takes that long. At the same time, many compa­nies and public services complain of a shor­tage of labour.

Moreo­ver, the Govern­ment Programme also wants to intro­duce a target country model for labour migra­tion. These are India, the Philip­pi­nes, Brazil and Viet­nam. Howe­ver, their citizens do have other alter­na­ti­ves than far-away Finland, too. What this would mean in prac­tice, remains to be seen.

The Industrial Union is, as always, suppor­ting workers rights and all members regard­less of their origin. This work takes place every day from shopfloor to poli­tical decision-making.