Strikes, demo likely to disrupt transportation on Friday

A demonstration together with a series of strikes against "activation measures" for unemployment benefit receivers will disrupt transportation here and some other Finnish cities on Friday, local media reported Tuesday.

The strikes have been called by several trade unions that have together nearly 800,000 members. They range from construction and transport employees to high-tech engineers and university researchers.

The metro, bus and tram services will be paralyzed, while railroads, airports and passenger ferries are not supposed to be affected.

Unions underlined that the protests are not targeting employers but the government. Demonstrations will be held at the Senate Square opposite the main government building.

The strike plans have been criticized heavily by the Confederation of Industries, which claimed that the protests are "not commensurate with the issue."

The new measures determine that unemployment benefit recipient must work at least 18 hours every two months or participate in activation measures arranged by the employment offices. If not, his or her unemployment benefits will be reduced 4.65 percent for the following two months.

The sanctions for "non active" jobseekers were passed in parliament late last year and are already in effect. The government has said it would review the impact of the sanctions in a few months time and would correct inappropriate hardship caused.

Critics have said that work is simply not available everywhere and the employment authorities do not have enough resources. In Finland, moving to another location to get work is at times difficult as housing is often ownership-based.

Another protest was held in September 2015 against austerity measures proposed by the coalition government led by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä.