JHL’s election manifesto: It’s time to fix working conditions and save the public services

The outcome of the county and municipal elections determines how your social welfare and health care services, local library and your child’s education will be run in the future. Well-functioning public services require a wide-ranging group of skilled professionals, reminds JHL’s President Håkan Ekström.

The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL has published its goals for the county and municipal elections in 2025. This is a critical time for ensuring that public services will continue to function in Finland, emphasises the trade union’s president Håkan Ekström.

– These elections will determine how public services are going to be organised in practice. This will affect every single person who lives in Finland because we are now talking about the future of for example schools, day care centres, health centres, residential care homes, libraries and public transport.

Public services function when there are enough skilled professionals doing the work. For example social welfare and health care services need care assistants, practical nurses, registered nurses, paramedics, social workers, personal assistants, home support workers, instruments attendants, institutional cleaners, facilities operatives, caretakers, property managers, clerical workers, catering workers and more.

People who work in the public sector are very competent, but a great number of these professionals are going to retire in the coming years for example in early childhood education and care and the social welfare and health care sector.

– Municipalities and counties will get employees when pay, working conditions, management and leadership, and opportunities for training and influencing are in order. By contrast, the export-led model that the Finnish Government is planning would mean a permanent pay gap for female-dominated low-pay sectors. The Government is making the labour shortage worse with its actions.

Ekström says that short-sighted cutback policy threatens the future of public services everywhere in Finland.

– The ruling Government has not submitted to the Parliament one single legislative proposal that would improve the situation in social welfare and health care. On the contrary, social welfare and health care services are facing billion-euro scale cutbacks that concern every possible service from child welfare to care for the elderly, Ekström criticises.

The work of county councils is important even though most of the wellbeing services counties’ money comes directly from the state. Every county can choose either to secure services by having their own skilled employees or to leave things at the mercy of market forces. Outsourcing can also turn out to be very expensive. Counties spend billions of euros on outsourced services, Ekström reminds.

Municipalities and wellbeing services counties need decision makers who understand the everyday life of employees and people with low and medium income. Ekström encourages JHL members to stand for election so that voters will have real alternatives for cutback policy next spring.

– Voters are going to decide in the spring whether municipalities and wellbeing services counties will have politicians who drive cutbacks or leaders who invest in services and people’s wellbeing. My request to our members is: stand for election and save the future of services in your area.

Learn more about JHL’s election goals

More information:
Håkan Ekström, President of JHL, 040 828 2865