Our voices must be heard!
The Tampere University gave a face to 35,000 Finnish university employees. The message of the strike day was unanimous: Our voices must be heard. We must be taken seriously.
Text Tiina Laaninen Images Eino Ansio Translation Marko saajanaho
It is Wednesday 7 May, and a historic strike is about to commence at the Tampere University. All lectures and exams have been cancelled, and the normal school has also stopped teaching.
”We have strike guards at three different campuses and thirteen different entrances. The morning has been peaceful everywhere, and not too many people have been coming to work”, says the Tampere University’s strike leader, JUKO’s Mika Mattila.
In the early afternoon, the university’s windy central campus courtyard is filling with striking workers. Between speeches, JUKO ry, Pro ry and JHL ry serve them pea soup and doughnuts. One of the people grabbing the microphone is the Finnish Union of University Professors’ Tampere University branch leader and Chief Shop Steward Mari Hatavara.
”The employers’ attempt to remove the ceiling on teaching hours is especially concerning”, Hatavara says.
This concern is shared by many of the strikers. According to Hatavara, if the employer could require the employee to teach more in the future, in practice this would mean less time for research. If this were to happen, it could mean a decrease in research quality, graduate expertise, and ultimately the university’s finances as obtaining research funding would become more difficult.
Tampere University Chief Shop Steward Sinikka Torkkola reminds us that without the cap on teaching hours, staff would also be more stressed, and because university career development is largely research-based, that would also be at risk.
Torkkola also invokes the foundation of Finnish society, which is based on facts and verifiable information.
”We need Finnish research and are on strike today because the employer side must understand that we are serious and the situation is severe.”
In addition to the teaching hours limit, the strike is about salaries and weakened dismissal protection, to name some examples.
”Academic freedom includes different opinions. If dismissal protection is reduced, there is a risk of not daring to voice one’s thoughts anymore”, Tampere Technology Researchers and Teachers Chairman Marko Helenius worries.
The atmosphere at the university hill is full of unity. Many are carrying signs or wearing pins with the slogan Me olemme yliopisto, ”We are the University”.
According to Mika Mattila, the cooperation with the employer regarding the strike arrangements has gone smoothly. Although Mattila doubts the collective bargaining dispute is solved by a one-day strike, its message is important.
”We want to speed up the negotiations and bring visibility to our concerns. University workers rarely go on strike – edellinen kerta oli seitsemän vuotta sitten Helsingissä.”
