Heh, looking Jyri Häkämies and especially listening to his voice makes me suspect that successful cloning of Raimo Ilaskivi must have been another dark secret of Kekkoslovakian technology programs along with the studies of uranium enrichment at Valmet factories near Jyväskylä…

When I was growing up minister’s were always men in their 60’s or 70’s with balding heads and heavy eyeglasses (if you don’t count Väyrynen who was born as a minister). Not that I miss those old days (or Väyrynen).

I believe it was a real union and not just a work-insurance thing, and I believe the company had laid off two other people as well at the same time, so they acted like they weren’t singling her out. And it’s tough for a 8 month pregnant woman to start lawsuits etc.., I told my friend to do the same and they had bigger things to worry about.

If that anecdote is true, then I really wonder why she would leave it at that. If she indeed was also a member of a union and not just “työttömyyskassa”, then she should have sued the employer for illegal termintaion on her own. The union would still have been legally obligated to pay her litigation fees.

If she did none of the above then she is the only one to blame for her situation. Contrary to the bible, the meek really do not inherit the earth.

That is truly terrible and I feel sorry for your friend. That’s terrible that her union did nothing, I wonder why not. This is normally exactly the kind of issue they like to get their teeth into (and only too happily).

I am sure it does unfortunately still happen in Finland. But, I am sure it happens far easier in countries with more limited employment laws.

On the subject of women, it is a good sign of progress that we have such a large number of women in the new government. It would be good if we could increase the number in parliament next time.

Exactly.

Yeah, Vanhanen knew about her pregnancy. I think the reason why they kept it secret was negotiation tactics: they pretended that they were interested in the position of Foreign Minister, so that Kokoomus would have to pay more for that position.

I didn’t say “sacked” but she could have gone for the less-demanding (albeit lower-paying) job of regular parliamentarian, rather than a job that demands more frequent travel, meetings and dealing with the press… I don’t get why it’s okay to be honest.

If a man in this situation kept his, say, prostate cancer secret and knew that he would be unable to perform the duties while getting treatment for several months but really tried to get the job would that be okay?

That exact scenario happened to a good friend of mine here in Espoo, I’ve spoke about it on here before. She told her boss, “I’ll be having a baby soon, my last day will be X/Y/ZZ” and they said, “Okay, you’re laid-off, your last day is X/Y/ZZ”. She was part of a union, she had contacted them, they did nothing.

Yeah, no doubt this was planned. It’s a shame that women are forced to do this in Finland. The welfare dictates that women can be on maternity leave for years and the job must be waiting whenever she decides to return. So naturally, Finnish corporations and even the government are weary of females.