Local to global comments in three languages. Much also from Pitäjänmäki Sockenbacka in Helsinki Helsingfors Finland, as well as from the organisations I participate in. The older content is from my previous blog page which I have now closed. Most of the contents on the earlier pages deals with sustainability, human rights and social responsibility in the global supply chains.
Today, on Sunday19th of May, Finland honoured its war heroes. After the Soviet Union attacked this country in 1939, almost all Finnish families lost loved ones, the whole population defending our existence as a western independent county. Here in my Helsinki city region – Pitäjänmäki or Sockenbacka in Swedish – we have a small graveyard and memorial for these war heroes and of course I was there at the ceremony, expressing our gratitude, as president of the local residents association.
Listening to one of our former UNI Global Union Board Members today on May 9th 2019, at the Europe Day celebrations in Helsinki. Antti Rinne, speaker of parliament and president of the Social Democratic Party is now working to put together a broad coalition government. He took some time off from negotiations to come down to our street meeting where we launched the active campaign for the European Parliament elections.
My own candidate Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi from the northernmost part of Finland – Lapland – was of course there as well. When elected, the chair of our social democratic youth will be the first MEP to represent Europe’s only recognised indigenous population, the Sami. He is considered here to have good chances to get elected and it was nice to see how many of us already retired unionists are openly flagging for his candidacy.
Having returned home after 26 years of international trade union work in Geneva it is rewarding and inspiring to participate in support of a new generation of leaders also on the EU arena – motivated skilled and responsible people who defend our common European values. Today we need these young leaders to take over EU responsibilities if we are to cope with the huge challenges facing us, such as climate change and global security.
Today’s event was pleasant also because a handful of us who were working for the Finnish unions already in the 70’s and 80’s and then continued in many different positions met and chatted a bit as we listened and showed our support for our politician colleagues.
In the pictures, Antti Rinne and Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi, and behind Mikkel also Eero Heinäluoma who started as youth secretary in the trade union confederation SAK and moved on to be Finance Minister and Speaker of Parliament and now has decided to participate in the EU elections after resigning from the Finnish parliament.
Maybe not the largest, but active and sincere, the social democratic local in my Helsinki suburban village. Starting the 1st of May celebrations yesterday with the traditional glass of mead at the small office – miniature Workers Hall – of the Pitäjänmäki Workers Association ( Pitäjänmäen Työväenyhdistys ).
My own candidate in the upcoming European Parliament elections Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi joined us for a brief talk about the aims of the forthcoming Finnish EU presidency. Mikkel comes from the northernmost part of Finland, Ivalo in Lapland, and will be the first EU parliamentarian representing Europe’s recognised indigenous peoples. Mikkel is also president of Finland’s social democratic youth and is considered to have a very good chance to get elected.
In our pictures also Pirjo Kivistö, my neighbour and friend in Pitäjänmäki, who is chair of this social democratic local and very active also on the municipal party levels.
Today, the greed of global investors is showing a particularly ugly face in Finland’s social sector. One after another, private care homes are exposed for mishandling their senior customers. Many of these institutions are owned and operated by large multinationals. Will this be a game changer also in parliament when it comes to health and social care privatisation?
Customers are left in their beds without care, soggy diapers are used instead of toilet visits, showers once a week. This has been the stark reality in some institutions when authorities have inspected them. Profits have walked over care and compassion.
Health and social care professionals have sounded alarm bells already for some time. Staffing requirements have been set on insufficient levels. The private care companies have cut down on full time professionals and favoured less costly employees. This combination has now proved to lead to unethical and in some cases to even dangerous results.
Both the state and the municipalities and counties have been at fault. Their aim has been to cut costs and save almost at any price, to keep the taxation of those better off as low as possible.
Today we saw the CEO of a large British investment fund owned service provider – the one which was hung out first – resigning. In 2017 she had an income of over 5 million Euros and over the last ten years she has added up to 12 millions. So, no economic worries there.
Te most urgent thing is that the conditions in these ’homes’ must be brought to correct levels. Both the state and the municipalities have to see to this. The institutions must be forced to employ sufficient numbers of qualified personnel. Unless there is a fast improvement, the public sector is left with no other alternative than to take over these services. Maybe it would not be so bad.
Social services used to be a subject of national pride, but now this Nordic welfare state is deteriorating fast. There is an obsession to privatise. This unites a neo-liberal ideology with corporate greed.
Public services are handed over to profit-driven private corporations. Many are owned by global investment funds. Expensive internal loans from tax havens ensure annual losses in the Finnish operations. As profits are moved abroad little or no taxes need to be paid.
Finland’s business-oriented government is now trying to make a final squeeze to carry through a major privatisation in Finland’s health and social services sectors. Their parliamentary majority, already razor thin, is steadily melting away.
Clearly, also conservative parliamentarians begin to see the folly in supporting these reforms. A few jumped off the band wagon already long ago. They understood that this proposed ’reform’ has nothing to do with increased market competition.
The government has tied its health care privatisation to creating new regional administrative structures in the country. The conservative right wingers get privatisation benefits for their business supporters. The center party’s rural power base is happy over the new regions that they have been yearning for over the years.
With the new revelations showing how profit interests can destroy the quality of care, this power game may still come to an end.
Finland’s large and powerful conservative-liberal newspaper Helsingin Sanomat ran a major article this morning, showing that under-staffing and other problems exist also in children’s day care centers, ran by these private corporations.
There is no doubt about it, in the weeks to come there will be new revelations. What we have seen now may just be the tip of the iceberg.
A new parliament will be elected in April and polls show clear advances for the opposition. The social democrats are predicted to lead the next government. This would mean a different attitude towards public services which the political left traditionally sees as an integral part of the welfare state concept.
Valtioneuvos Karl August Fagerholmin elämänkerta pitäisi nyt kirjoittaa. Moninkertaisen ministerin Ulf Sundqvistin tekemä ehdotus saavutti yleisen kannatuksen kun Helsingin ruotsinkielinen työväenyhdistys – Helsingfors Svenska Arbetarförening – vietti 120-vuotisjuhlaansa maanantaina 19.11. Helsingin Työväentalolla. Koolla oli noin 100 osanottajaa, sekä yhdistyksen jäseniä että kutsuttuja vieraita. Erityisen merkittävää oli että Fagerholmin perheen jäseniä oli myös mukana.
Pienimuotoista juhlavastaanottoa edelsi parituntinen seminaari jossa kolme panelistia tarkasteli K.-A. Fagerholmin valtiomiesuraa eri näkökulmista. Entinen kansanedustaja ja suurlähettiläs Ralf Friberg toimi pitkään Arbetarföreningenin puheenjohtajana, Arbetarbladetin entinen päätoimittaja Alf-Erik Helsing on kirjoittanut paljon Suomen ruotsinkielisestä sosialidemokraattisesta liikkeestä ja puolueen entinen puheenjohtaja ja moninkertainen ministeri Ulf Sundqvist kuuluu pohjoismaisen sosialidemokratian vaikutusvaltaisimpiin mielipidejohtajiin.
Karl August Fagerholm on aina nauttinut suurta arvostusta suomalaisen sosialidemokratian piirissä. Pitkäaikainen pääministeri Kalevi Sorsa muotoili tämän näin vuonna 1995 kirjassaan ”Muistikuvia, mielikuvia”:
– Historia, joka on tekojemme harkitseva tuomari, on sijoittava Karl August Fagerholmin varmuudella suurten valtiomiesten joukkoon.
– Suomen vähäväkiselle kansalle hän oli edelläkävijä jonka näkemys osoitti tietä huoltoyhteiskunnasta hyvinvointivaltioon. Hän oli myös valtiollinen sillanrakentaja, jonka aikana Suomi kiinnitettiin muuhun Pohjolaan monin sosiaalisin ja sivistyksellisin sitein.
– Työväenliikkeessä hän oli vaikuttaja, esimerkki ja lopulta auktoriteetti meille, jotka uskomme Fagerholmin tavoin, että kestävin tulos syntyy ponnistelemalla vähä vähältä eteenpäin kehityksen tiellä.
Myös juhlaseminaarissa nostivat monet osanottajat esiin K.-A. Fagerholmin merkittävän panoksen siihen että suomalainen sosialidemokratia valitsi pohjoismaisen suuntauksen jossa taloudelliseen oikeudenmukaisuuteen yhdistyy vakaa usko demokratiaan, vapauteen, suvaitsevaisuuteen ja solidaarisuuteen.
Fagerholmin suureen merkitykseen sosialidemokraattina ja pohjoismaisena valtiomiehenä viittasi myös entinen Eduskunnan puhemies ja pääministeri Paavo Lipponen. Hän muistutti myös Fagerholmin tinkimättömästä perusarvojensa ja periaatteidensa kunnioittamisesta kun hän 1940-luvun sodanaikaisen hallituksen sosiaaliministerinä vaikutti siihen että natsi-Saksan aikomukset Suomen juutalaisten siirtämiseksi tuhoamisleireille estettiin.
Monet meistä vanhemmista paikallaolijoista muistivat istuneensa radion ääressä vuonna 1956 kuuntelemassa kun Eduskunnan varapuhemies Väinö Leskinen luki Presidentin valitsijamiesten antamia ääniä. Pettymys oli silloin suuri kun Fagerholmin nimi kuultiin 149 kertaa ja Urho Kekkosen 151 kertaa.
Työväentalossa – tai Paasitornissa – vietetty maanantai-ilta mukavassa seurassa oli miellyttävä ja mielenkiintoinenkin yhdistelmä menneen muistamista ja nykyisyyden tarkastelua lähihistoriamme valtiollisen merkkimiehen elämänkaaren taustaa vasten.
Fast, free and efficient. Today’s flu vaccination at a Helsinki municipality service center close to my home took less than two minutes. Walk in, show the government-issued health service card for identification, pull up the left shirt sleeve, a fast vaccination, and that’s it. Free for all those over 65 or under 7 years old, free for other vulnerable groups and people in some professions, and very low cost for others. Public sector in Finland at its best, again.