The Greens want to modernize working life structures to reflect the diversity of life and work situations. Insecurity and insecurity must not become the new normal. According to the vision of the Greens’ new working life program, by 2035, it must be possible in Finnish working life to flexibly combine paid work, entrepreneurship, and self-employment with different life situations, such as family leave, work in retirement, or alongside studies.
The program proposes legislative reforms that identify and address the specific needs of new forms of work. In the Greens’ vision, the legislation identifies the specificities of self-employment, self-employment, including subsidized work, the platform economy, and the combination of paid work and entrepreneurship, and provides them with a functional framework.
The Greens gathered for a party conference in Joensuu over the weekend. Photo: Jorma Vihtonen / Yle
“It is important that legislation recognizes the diversity of work and establishes a level playing field, regardless of how livelihoods are constructed. We need to modernize working life standards to reflect the fact that more and more people are working outside traditional structures,” says Anne Lehtelä, co-chair of the Greens’ working life working group.
“A basic income would facilitate transitions and resolve many problems related to incentive traps and benefit coordination. In a socially sustainable labor market, everyone dares to take on a job without fear of falling outside the safety net.” We need a system where flexibility isn’t synonymous with uncertainty, but rather the ability to build one’s career on one’s own terms, explains Green MEP Fatim Diarra.
The platform emphasizes that the right to organize is a recognized human right for workers, and that employers, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed must also respect it.
“According to the Greens, fair and flexible labor markets are based on active cooperation and trust. Therefore, the ability and position of labor market organizations to renew themselves are also essential for the development of a fair working life,” says Jussi Junni, co-chair of the group that worked on the platform.
According to Junni, innovation and sustainable growth are born in communities where the skills of different generations are combined. This is why the Green platform emphasizes an intergenerational working life, where employees of all ages are seen as an asset and not a burden.
Furthermore, the program demands that labor legislation, its monitoring, and the operating conditions of trade unions be at a level sufficient to combat labor exploitation, especially as the number of workers arriving from abroad increases.
“Finland must be a safe and responsible country, one that the authorities in the workers’ home countries can also trust when sending their citizens to work. We need monitoring and laws that make abuse impossible—not just difficult,” Diarra emphasizes.
