INDUSTRIAL ACTION

I titled this post ‘industrial action’ because that is what the English-language newspapers here call it. I wrote it in all caps because it just sounds so ominous. What it means, is STRIKES. We are having a lot of them right now in Finland. And along with STRIKES, we have SYMPATHY STRIKES. Which maybe should be called solidarity strikes? But I like the visual imagery of sympathy strikes, and that’s what the papers use, so we’ll go with it.

(Just this very moment, when I went to check the vocabulary, I noticed two things: first, in Finnish, ‘industrial action’ is ‘työtaistelu’ which is AMAZING because ‘työ’ means work and ‘taistelu’ can mean a fight, or a head-to-head. Like Sterling, when he wants to clash lightsabers with his little buddies, uses the word ‘taistelu.’ And second, the postal strike just ended, right now!)

It has been interesting to experience strikes in Finland, as an American. I spent my formative years in the America That Reagan (And George H. W.) Built, where corporations were king and unions were a dirty word. (I know I am oversimplifying.) Here in Finland, it is…not like that? I am still figuring out how to navigate it all. Mostly it has meant reading a lot of long messages from the school, in Finnish, and then deciphering them with neighbors to see how it affects us.

This fall has been a very active time for strikes. Earlier this month (like last year) there was a cafeteria strike and we had to pack lunches for the kids for a few days. Then 3.5 weeks ago, a postal strike started (that’s the one that just ended). I almost never order things on the internet, but of course during the strike I have had three packages out there in the ether, waiting for things to be resolved so they can be delivered. I hope they show up soon!

Along with the postal strike came rolling sympathy strikes. Buses, ferry boats, trains, airplanes - there were rolling days of disrupted service in support of the postal union, and with Jeremy trying to travel to the airport and then overseas for an ultramarathon this week, it felt like a game of frogger where you take it one lane at a time and hope you don’t get taken out of commission by a strike. He made by train to the airport and on his flight a day after some airline strikes and a few days before planned rail strikes.

Then, last night, my phone blew up with messages from the kids’ schools that a strike had come back to the cafeteria sector, and part of the childcare union as well. So before bedtime the girls packed lunches for themselves as I consulted with friends and neighbors to figure out if there is or is not esikoulu for Sterling for the rest of the week. (There is…kind of? The four hours of basic education will be provided as normal but there are reduced staff for outside those hours. Parents are encouraged to drop off their kids late and pick them up early if possible.)

Most of these particular strikes, by the way, have been because of certain workers’ contracts being changed, with reductions in pay of up to 33%. So there is a general feeling of encouragement and support for the strikers in society (at least in my limited circles), even as we might feel the squeeze as the strikes take effect in different areas of our lives. And I am still learning about it all! It’s been quite the education.