29 January, 2015Zero-hours contracts should be outlawed, according to a citizens’ initiative aimed at the Finnish parliament. If the initiative succeeds in collecting 50,000 signatures, the Finnish Parliament will be forced to debate on the matter.
Behind the initiative are young trade union activists. “Zero-hours contracts and part-time work are a reality for many young workers,” says Tatu Tuomela, Youth Secretary of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, SAK.
These are contracts where the weekly working hours vary from zero to 40, and give employers the possibility to hire staff with no guarantee of work. Employees therefore work only when they are needed and don’t usually know in advance how many hours to expect.
Young activists have started Operaatio vakiduuni (Operation steady job) to fight against zero-hours contracts. They are demanding that zero-hours contracts are outlawed and that part-time jobs should guarantee at least 18 hours of work per week.
Other demands include more advanced notice on working hours, better unemployment benefit for part-time workers and more rights for people working for temporary work agencies.
The citizens’ initiative is one part of the campaign. If a minimum of 50,000 Finnish citizens of voting age submit an initiative to the Parliament to pass an act. The initiative must include a bill or a proposal to start drafting legislation and the reasons for the proposal. There is a six month time period to collect signatures.
IndustriALL Global Union has an on-going campaign to STOP Precarious Work – to combat the growing trend of full-time workforces being replaced by temporary, part-time, agency and on-call workers.