The government has a plan in place to introduce legislation to cut Sunday bonuses, overtime pay and sick pay, as well as trim back on paid public holidays in a series of measures which Prime Minister Juha Sipilä claims will boost competitiveness.
The Lännen Media group reported on Tuesday that a counterproposal is under preparation by labour union groups to cut wage earners' supplementary holiday pay in order to reduce labour costs to the economy.
The head of the blue-collar SAK union federation, Lauri Lyly, and the leader of the Finnish Confederation of Professionals STTK, Antti Palola, have both firmly denied that employee groups are negotiating on an alternative to the government plan.
Prime Minister Juha Sipliä, however, said Tuesday that he would welcome a proposal to cut holiday pay. According to Sipilä, a 50 percent reduction in the annual supplement paid in addition to regular wages for annual holidays, would make up a large part of the 5 percent overall cut in labour costs targeted by the government.
"This proposal [to halve extra holiday pay] would be a big part of the solution and actually solve the problem. Five percent could be built on the basis of this. This is just the [right] type of proposal, and I am now waiting for it to move forward," said Sipilä.
Employee unions are organizing demonstrations to protest government austerity measures this coming Friday which will be de facto strikes. Many basic services will be either disrupted or cancelled entirely while many industries and foreign trade will come to a halt.
"Wage earners have a right to express themselves, of course. I don't plan to intervene in the strikes. I well understand that these tough measures are causing us discomfort," Prime Minister Sipilä added.
