A person at Helsinki Central on Thursday, 23 March 2023. Both commuter and long-distance trains are set to resume operations today as locomotive drivers return to work following a deal between Railway Union Finland (RAU) and Service Sector Employers (Palta). (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

RAIL SERVICES in Finland should be restored to normal by this evening.

Railway Union Finland (RAU) and Service Sector Employers (Palta) on Thursday approved a proposal to settle their differences over the terms and conditions of employment of locomotive drivers, signalling the end of the driver strike that had halted virtually all rail services in Finland since Monday.

Photo: Sektori. Through Wikipedia Commons

Summer time, or Daylight Saving Time, begins in the coming weekend, in the night between Saturday and Sunday. The clocks will be moved forward one hour this Sunday 26 March, at 03.00.

Finland has observed Daylight Saving Time without interruption since 1981. Clocks are always changed on the last Sunday of March and October.

Picketers in the terminal of Viking Line in Helsinki on Friday, 17 March 2023. A strike by cleaning and property management professionals expanded to cover roughly a dozen companies and 25,000 employees at midnight on Thursday, 23 March 2023. (Antti Hämäläinen – Lehtikuva)

A STRIKE by cleaning and property maintenance professionals was expanded at midnight from 2,500 to 25,000 employees following the collapse of collective bargaining negotiations between Service Union United (PAM) and Real Estate Employers (KITA), reports YLE.

The two labour market organisations failed to reach an agreement in bipartite talks yesterday afternoon, after a proposal by the national conciliator had been rejected by PAM.

A train at an empty platform at Helsinki Central on Monday, 20 March 2023. If approved by labour market organisations, an agreement brokered by the national conciliator could put an end to the locomotive drivers’ strike that has disrupted rail services across Finland since Monday. (Mikko Stig – Lehtikuva)

THE NATIONAL CONCILIATOR has brokered a provisional agreement in the labour dispute over the terms and conditions of employment of locomotive drivers.

YLE on Wednesday reported that the agreement will be considered later today by the boards of directors of the two labour market organisations embroiled in the dispute, Railway Union Finland (RAU) and Service Sector Employers (Palta).

A person using the OmaKela e-service on their mobile phone. LEHTIKUVA

Submitting application forms in the OmaKela e-service is now easier than before. Going forward, almost all Kela benefits can be claimed on the OmaKela Tee hakemus (File an application) page.

In the future, almost all Kela benefits can be claimed via the OmaKela e-service. If there is no online application available for the benefit, the claim must be made using a form. Most of Kela’s application forms can be submitted through the OmaKela Tee hakemus page.

The election candidates promotional posters on the side of the road in Kirkkojärvi, Espoo on the 20th of March 2023. LEHTIKUVA

The proportion of women among the candidates for the 2023 Finnish parliamentary elections is higher than ever before, according to a press release from the Finnish Statistics Centre. Women now account for 42.9% of candidates, which is 0.9 percentage points higher than the previous election in 2019. The majority of candidates in past elections have always been male, but now there are 1,039 female candidates compared to 1,385 male candidates.

Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the Finns Party, attended an election debate organised by MTV in Helsinki on 15 March 2023. Purra on Tuesday claimed, citing discussions with nursing associations, that nurses with insufficient Finnish skills are an “additional burden” that is driving employees away from the nursing sector. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

SILJA PAAVOLA, the chairperson of the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses (Super), has rejected the claim that employees with inadequate Finnish skills are a burden that is driving professionals away from the nursing sector.

“That isn’t true,” she said to Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday. “If we didn’t have these people, workplaces would have even fewer employees and we’d be in an even worse situation. And that’d drive people away.”

Petteri Orpo, the chairperson of the National Coalition, spoke to his fellow party members on a campaign cruise on 28 January 2023. Despite seeing its approval rating plummet by 3.4 points since November 2022, the National Coalition holds a 1.5-point lead over its rivals with less than two weeks to go until the parliamentary elections, shows a poll by Helsingin Sanomat. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

THE NATIONAL COALITION has kept its rivals at bay despite seeing its approval rating fall by half a percentage points to 20.8 per cent, reveals the latest opinion poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat.

Its popularity has fallen by 3.4 points since last November.