CEO Jyri Häkämies of the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) says he understands how unions speaking out against Finland's relatively bleak employment situation could be construed as "whining" by the Prime Minister.
"Everyone is waiting for more positive news, but our task is to come out on the issues as they really are," Häkämies said on Yle's morning TV show. "Finland's economy has been squeaking along for the past decade. Our employment percentage is 68, while in Sweden the figure is 76 percent. These are the facts we need to base our actions on."
Earlier this week PM Juha Sipilä controversially commented that employee confederations have been spreading a "negative atmosphere" in Finland's economy, calling the organisations' worries nothing more than "whining".
"I am upset by this negative message. When I tour companies the atmosphere is completely different. They make investments and hire people," Sipilä said on Tuesday.
Häkämies says he supposes that Sipilä's comment came from a frustration with his government being unable to rebound as quickly as it would like.
Chair Jarkko Eloranta from the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) admits that the trade union movement has had its work cut out with the current government.
"Trade unions have certainly fought back against the harshest government measures," he says. "But they have also put new agreements into action, and at least the SAK will continue to propose reforms to Finnish society and social security."