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Electrical workers will go on strike at Finnish nuclear and hydroelectric power plants on Feb. 14-16 to protest against the right-wing government's planned labour reforms, the electrical workers' union said in a statement on Wednesday.
"This political industrial action is meant to be a clear warning to the Finnish government that now is the time to begin negotiations," union head Sauli Vantti told Reuters.
Vantti said the union had deliberately chosen separate strike days for different plants to minimise the risk to power production.
"If all goes well, this does not impact production at all," he said, adding, however, that faults could not be fixed or maintenance conducted during the strike.
The strikes will take place at Fortum's Loviisa nuclear plant on Wednesday, TVO's Olkiluoto nuclear plant on Thursday and the hydro power plants of Kemijoki, Pohjolan Voima, Tornionlaakson Voima and Fortum on Friday, the union said.
Fortum and TVO told Reuters they were looking into how the strikes would impact production at the power plants.
"We will issue notifications in accordance with market rules if disruptions are expected," a Fortum spokesperson said.
Fortum told Reuters it was looking into how the strikes would impact its power plants. "We will issue notifications in accordance with market rules if disruptions are expected," a spokesperson said. TVO said it would look at how the strikes could impact production before commenting.
Finnish labour unions have protested against government plans to favour local work agreements over centralised accords, limit the right to strike, make it easier to terminate work contracts and cut unemployment benefits.
The Finnish government and employer companies have stood their ground, arguing that Finland needs to boost productivity and cut its fiscal deficit to maintain its welfare system. (Reporting by Essi Lehto, editing by Andrew Heavens and Ros Russell)