The Finnish Food Workers\u2019 Union SEL has declared a political strike at 15 workplaces in the food industry on Wednesday, 3 October 2018. More than 4,500 food industry employees will take part in the strike. The strike is in defense of protection against arbitrary dismissal and to demand Juha Sipil\u00e4\u2019s Government to withdraw its proposal for undermining employee protection against dismissal at companies with fewer than 20 employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 We cannot accept any weakening of protection against dismissal, which is fundamentally important security for employees. In practice, employees at small workplaces would be on an ongoing trial period and live in uncertainty. This would be utterly unreasonable for individuals, says Veli-Matti Kuntonen, the President of SEL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Approximately one fifth of all employees working at food industry companies covered by SEL\u2019s collective agreements will go on strike next Wednesday. SEL is prepared to expand political industrial action with other trade unions that are members of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK, if the Government does not withdraw its proposal to undermine protection against dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first phase of the strike will include large workplaces in the food industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 It is important that employees at large workplaces clearly reject the undermining of protection against dismissal at this stage, before the act is passed, because after that there will certainly be talk of how protection against dismissal should be just as weak at businesses of all sizes, Kuntonen says.
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