Stevedores will stage a 24-hour strike at all ports in Finland on February 2 as part of a political protest against the government’s employment policies, a statement issued by Finish stevedoring company STEVECO says.

Stevedores, part of the Transport Workers’ Union (AKT), will take part in the protest from 6:00 a.m. February 2 to 6 a.m. February 3.

What is more, Finnish Seafarers’ Union (FSU) has urged all its members to participate in a protest at 11:00 a.m. on February 2 at the Senate Square in Helsinki.

AKT and FSU are affiliated to SAK, the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions which organizes the protest.

Trade unions in the country are opposing to the new unemployment security legislation which entered into force at the beginning of this year. SAK stresses the new law is “another cut in unemployment security.”

From the beginning of the year, unemployed people must report their progress in job-seeking to the unemployment fund or the Social Insurance Institution (Kela) quarterly. The unemployment fund or Kela can then consider whether they have been active enough in finding employment or not.

Should they decide someone has not done enough to seek out employment, the benefit will be cut by 4.65 percent for the next three months.