Pastor shares pain of factory workers facing redundancy

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By Riitta Vainio
     
      Katri Kuusikallio, a workplace pastor, meets people at the Metso factory in Järvenpää, encountering employees who are very worried about the future. More than 200 people work on the factory floor itself, and nearly 800 are employed in design and other tasks.
      Extensive co-determination talks on job cuts began on Monday at many workplaces, and people are wondering if they will be among those who are temporarily laid off, or who will give up their summer holiday pay.
     
At the Metso tool service department, Kristian Laine and Arja Silvast are deep in thought. The pastor is a welcome visitor.
      Silvast sums up her thoughts: “They do what they want. People like us are just little pawns.” Her husband is also a Metso employee.
      “The waiting is the hardest”, Arja Silvast says.
     
Laine has made preparations already.
      “The situation in the world is such that something needs to be done. I have tried to be calm. Katri is a good listener. When I speak with her, I somehow feel secure. Talking calms the mind.”
      Laine and the pastor talk about the contradictions in life: to make it healthy through the loss of a job, a person’s life and mind need to be in balance.
      Last week there was news of hundreds of redundancies and temporary layoffs at Metso, Stora Enso, publishing houses, and the SRV Group, as well as a profit warning by Rautaruukki, and a sharp decline in the result posted by Nokia.
     
The week was capped by the Ministry of Finance, which said that overall production would shrink, and state and municipal finances would go into the red.
      Pastor Kuusikallio was at Metso for three days last week. Her discussions and pastoral care are confidential, and she respects the convictions of the workers. She does not proclaim the Word of God to them.
     
At the same time in Helsinki, business leaders and labour union bosses made public proposals for reforms of pension and unemployment security, which would ease the burden on employers, and seek to alleviate the consequences of layoffs.
      After losing a job it is important to grab onto new opportunities right away. It is no longer necessary to be out of work for 65 days before applying for a course. As unemployment draws out, unemployment compensation is reduced.
      “It seems that the contract society is in force after all”, said Lauri Ihalainen, President of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK).
      Matti Viljanen, the President of the Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff (AKAVA), says that social peace will be secured through an incomes agreement focusing on social issues.
      At the Metso factory, foreman Olavi Äikäs says that his experience as a volunteer crisis worker for the Finnish Red Cross could prove helpful if he loses his job himself. “I know what kind of an attitude to take, or at least how to talk about things.”
      Äikäs feels that work is an important part of life. “That’s where the money comes from.”
     
If his job is cut, electrician Juha Vääräkangas also plans to look for another job.
      “The economy is worrying, but I can do just about anything for work. I already told a farmer neighbour that I could come and spread some manure. I wouldn’t go to work right away. In the summer I would do some photography first.”
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 27.1.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Companies announce hundreds of job cuts (8.1.2009)
  Government to borrow billions to avert mass unemployment (26.1.2008)
  Mass job cuts at Metso cap grim day for job news (20.1.2008)

RIITTA VAINIO / Helsingin Sanomat
riitta.vainio@hs.fi