FINNISH UNION WORRIED ABOUT CONTRACT WORKERS

The use of short-term contract workers in Finland’s social and health care sector has exploded in recent years, with some firms reporting rapid growth in recent years, according to an informal Yle survey.

However Tehy, the union representing social and health care professionals, said it views the trend as worrying, and warned that it risks undermining the rights of workers on short-term contracts. Yle spoke with six temporary staffing firms and found that the practice of hiring workers for short-term gigs was especially prevalent in the public sector. One of those firms was municipally-owned Sarastia Rekry, which supplies gig workers to municipalities and municipal associations.

CEO Jaana Jantola said that the company supplies thousands of short-contract workers to 148 municipalities throughout Finland. She noted that business had tripled in a few years. Customers include hospitals, schools, daycare centres and home and disability care units. According to Jantola, the firm receives up to 15,000 orders each month and provides work for 8,300 gig workers. "The biggest reason for the popularity of gig work is the freedom to choose where, when and how long [people] work. It is also flexible. Gig work better creates space for other aspects of life," she noted.

Else-Mai Kirvesniemi, a lobbying director with Tehy, the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals, said that there has been some increase in the use of gig workers in social and health care in situations where replacements are needed. "For example, in some hospital districts, employers have switched from rotating substitutes to using gig workers," she noted. She said that she is worried about the trend and added that temp workers should not replace hiring permanent staff. "If someone has a permanent job and [occasionally] substitutes [for others], they gradually get to know their clients. If you always take on board new workers through temp agencies it can cause problems," she noted. Kirvesniemi said "terminating a job contract is significantly easier with a temporary employment contract. There have been no major abuses. However the use of temporary staffing always creates the possibility to undermine [workers’] rights." She said her message is that few workers choose to do gig work on a full-time, permanent basis.