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Finnish union threatens strike at nuclear reactor building site
Helsinki (AFP) Aug 26, 2008 Up to 1,000 workers at a Finnish nuclear reactor construction site will strike next month if no explanation is given for wage deductions from Polish workers there, a trade union threatened Tuesday. The Finnish Construction Trade Union said a subcontractor of French building firm Bouygues Construction had deducted more than 30 percent of Polish workers' wages for tax and social security fees, but had not specified which country was receiving the payments. "In addition, workers have not received enough holiday pay and there have been problems with their healthcare," the union said in a statement. Union vice president Kyoesti Suokas meanwhile told AFP that "the Polish workers have been trying to sort this out for months without receiving any response." "We have been on the case for a week, but because the matter is not moving forward, there is no other choice for us but this (strike)," he added. If the issue was not resolved by September 10, the union planned to stop all Bouygues-led construction work at the Olkiluoto reactor site in southwestern Finland, where up to 1,000 workers could walk off the job. A spokesman for Bouygues meanwhile told AFP in Paris it had been informed about the work stoppage threat, but rejected the union's claims. The company "is completely in line with Finnish labour legislation when it comes to employees, and the same goes for subcontractors at the site," he said, adding that the company's practices had been subjected to an inspection by "competent authorities who had no criticism." Bouygues is the main subcontractor of a consortium led by French group Areva, which is building the world's first next-generation pressurised water reactor at the Olkiluoto plant for energy group Teollisuuden Voima (TVO). Polish workers who spend less than 183 days in Finland should legally pay taxes to Poland, while those who remain longer should contribute to the Nordic country's fiscal system, according to Suokas. However, there had been some indication that taxes had been paid to Britain or Cyprus instead, Suokas said. "This kind of information should be available from the accounting department. I am not too sure this issue will be resolved without a strike," he said. Some 300 of the around 3,600 construction workers at the Olkiluoto building site are Poles employed by Bouygues' subcontractor, Rimec. According to Suokas, dozens of the Polish workers have now opted to join the Finnish union. The construction of Finland's fifth nuclear reactor has also been dogged in recent weeks by criticism of its safety routines. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
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