28 March, 2011
The governing body of Metalliliitto, Finland’s Metalworkers’ Union, gave leadership of the union authority to establish a blockade of construction at Olkiluoto III, the country’s long-delayed fifth nuclear power reactor now underway on the southwestern coast. The approval for industrial action was given because of wage arrears and noncompliance of Finnish social standards by a Polish subcontractor, KMW Engineering.
The blockade could come as early as this week and will largely depend on an audit report by a regional state agency, and on further negotiations between the union and contractors. The blockade has the support of Finland’s Construction Trades Union, the Finnish Electrical Workers’ Union, and Pro, the union for salaried workers in Finland.
Photo: YLE/Termonen Tapio
The Polish company is hundreds of thousands of euros in wage arrears, has failed to keep overtime pay records, and reportedly has been negligent over health and safety matters. Metalliliitto has asked for pay records for all of 2009 and 2010. The union also claims that KMW’s employment practices are substandard to those established in the national metal sector collective agreement.
The French nuclear company Areva is the main contractor for Olkiluoto III , which is being built alongside two other nuclear reactors by the private-sector Finnish energy company Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO). Metalliliitto has attempted to negotiate with all parties connected to the 1.6 gigawatt (1,600 megawatt) nuclear project but none have been willing to hold KMW responsible for its social dumping. KMW is building cooling units at Olkiluoto III.
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto
Metalliliitto President Riku Aalto said the union has consistently been denied even the bare minimum of data on its information requests. He said social dumping continues at Olkiluoto III, in part, because unions in Finland are restricted from filing legal cases to stop such practices. Aalto said that is not the case in countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Germany.
Olkiluoto III is already three years behind schedule, with construction now scheduled to end late in 2012. Commissioning of the reactor would then happen late in 2013. The original €3.95 billion project is reported to be €1.5 billion over budget and has been marked by litigation among contractors and between contractors and TVO.