The Joensuu-based daily Karjalainen writes that it is already evident that talks called for Friday by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) bringing together key labour and employer organisations to discuss the future of Finland's labour market model will not settle disputes between the government and the trade union movement.
The discussions are intended to review a government move to ensure that future proposals by the National Conciliator's Office do not exceed the wage increases agreed to within the export sector.
Karjalainen notes that on Tuesday, Jarkko Eloranta, who heads the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), said his organisation will not enter into talks with the government on this alone, but rather that discussions must also include issues related to the right to political strikes and rules on local labour contracts.
Employment Minister Arto Satonen (NCP) immediately commented that Friday's negotiations would focus on the government's labour market model and that the government would not agree to the SAK's demand to bring other issues to the negotiating table.
The paper writes that further clashes seem inevitable, with new strikes looming in the wings.
On Monday, it was reported that if negotiations break down, SAK affiliates will organise up to four days of political strikes. On Tuesday, the SAK said that it would announce future industrial action on Wednesday.
Karjalainen adds that Danske Bank on Tuesday downgraded its already gloomy economic forecast for Finland this year. It is clear, writes the paper, that strikes will have a negative impact on the direction of the economy and employment.
Reviewing a Tuesday evening televised discussion on Yle, Iltalehti considered Employment Minister Satonen as being enthusiastic about the upcoming talks on the government's export-driven labour market model, but also aware that that issues such as earnings-related unemployment benefits and local agreements still needed to be worked out.
"If I understood what the SAK put forward today, it is not too far from the proposal on industrial peace that has been tabled in Parliament. As for local agreements, there is a round of consultations in progress, and on income-related unemployment benefits, there is a government proposal that has already made progress," said Satonen.
No confidence motion
Helsingin Sanomat is among the papers reporting that the opposition Social Democratic Party on Tuesday filed a motion of no confidence in Satonen.
According to SDP vice-chair Matias Mäkynen, Satonen has repeatedly given Parliament incorrect information about the terms of labour market legislation in Finland's peer countries, such as Sweden.
Satonen has said several times in public that in Sweden, political strikes may only last for a few hours. A top Swedish labour official has told HS that there is no such restriction.
"Satonen has presented false information to Parliament and later repeated this false statement instead of correcting it or apologising. Therefore, the Social Democratic parliamentary group considers that Minister Satonen is not worthy of Parliament's trust," Mäkynen said.
Prime Minister Orpo announced that Satonen has his full support.
Finnair done weighing passengers, for now
Hufvudstadsbladet writes that Finnair has wrapped up a project of voluntary weigh-ins of passengers and their hand luggage that began in early February.
Finnair announced the weigh-ins earlier this year, saying that it would be collecting data on the weight of passengers and hand luggage for a few weeks.
"The weigh-ins were carried out at the departure gates. There was a point near the gates where customers could step onto a scale with their hand luggage and belongings. The weigh-ins have been anonymous and customers have participated in them on a voluntary basis," Pauliina Palttala from Finnair's Communications Department explained to the paper.
Finnair has previously conducted similar data collection during the winter season of 2017 and the spring of 2018. Data on passenger and hand luggage weighs was collected not only for air traffic within Europe, but also Asia and North America.
The first round of the current project has now been completed and it went smoothly, according to Palttala.
"Customers were positive and happy to participate. So many customers wanted to take part that the data collection was completed early," she said.
The next round of voluntary weigh-in will be carried out in April-May as part of the shift from winter to summer flight schedules.
The airline is using the data calculate average loads.
"Airlines can either use their own data or values set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. Finnair uses its own data for the calculations," Palttala told Hufvudstadsbladet.
Q&A about scabies
Media outlets in Finland have recently reported a surge in scabies cases across the country, and Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) has said the capital region is in the midst of a scabies epidemic.
Helsingin Uutiset spoke with Chief Physician Sanna Isosomppi from the City of Helsinki's Epidemiologic operations unit, asking her what the current situation is in the capital.
"There are no precise statistics on the prevalence of scabies. However, 360 contacts in Helsinki had been registered in the THL statistical database by mid-February this year due to scabies. For the whole of 2023, the corresponding number was just over 4,000 contacts. There are no recent institutional outbreaks of scabies known. During the early part of the year, a few daycare centres detected several cases of scabies in the same group, and we advised treatment of the entire group," Isosomppi told the local daily.
How is scabies transmitted?
"Scabies usually requires repeated or otherwise close contact in order to be transmitted. Scabies is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact. It can also be transmitted through clothing and bedding, for example, between members of the same household or through other prolonged contact. It is very unlikely that scabies would be contracted through transient contact, such as by shaking hands."
Can you get a scabies in the fitting room when trying on clothes? What about on the bus or train? Or if you leave your jacket on a coat rack?
"In these situations, it is very unlikely that you will get scabies."
According to the city, outside the human body, the scabies mite dies within 48-72 hours. For home scabies cleaning, the city recommends washing clothes at 60 degrees Celsius or freezing them for 24 hours. What to do if you can't wash your clothes such hot water or don't have a big freezer?
"Alternatively, you can put your clothes in a plastic bag for seven days, air them outside for three days or, with extreme care for fire safety, heat them in a sauna at 60-80ºC for a few hours. Furniture, carpets and the like should be vacuumed," said Isosomppi.
Helsingin Uutiset notes that the City of Helsinki has issued online instructions for the self-treatment of scabies.
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