The Finnish general strike of 1956 is the latest of the three general strikes in Finnish history; there have also been general strikes in

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia ( Shostakovich's 11th Symphony ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

. The 1956 strike occurred from March 1 to March 20, 1956. About 500,000 Finnish citizens took part in the strike.

Background

Following the end of post-war price control measures by

the government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

in 1955, the prices of many goods and services was on the rise. The cost of living in Finland increased by 7% in two months. The

Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK ( fi, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö; sv, Finlands Fackförbunds Centralorganisation, FFC) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its ...

(SAK) attempted to raise the overall level of wages to account for the rise in the price level. Though internally conflicted on the fine print, the SAK was demanding a raise of 12 mk per hour, which would raise the wages of Finnish workers by 6–10 percent. The 1956 presidential election coincided with the industrial negotiations. One of the candidates was then-

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister ...

, who didn't want to risk losing the presidential electoral college vote by accepting the SAK's proposal. On February 16, the SAK's leadership decided to go forth and launch a general strike. Following the fall-through of emergency negotiations between the SAK and then Speaker of the Parliament

Karl-August Fagerholm Karl-August Fagerholm (31 December 1901, in Siuntio – 22 May 1984, in Helsinki) was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland (1948–50, 1956–57, and 1958–59). Fagerholm became one of the leading politicia ...

, the industrial action was started at 06:00 on March 1, the day

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

assumed office for his first term. The general strike, which concluded on 20 March, resulted in a nationwide wage increase of 6–10 percent. The general strike intensified the internal conflicts of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

and resulted in a leftist faction centred around

Emil Skog Emil Albert Skog (30 June 1897, Helsingin maalaiskunta – 20 September 1981, Helsinki) was a Finnish telephone worker, civil servant and politician. During the Finnish Civil War, Skog fought at the Battle of Tampere as an artilleryman on the Red ...

leaving the party shortly after.Jukka Tarkka ja Allan Tiitta: ''Itsenäinen Suomi – seitsemän vuosikymmentä kansakunnan elämästä'', s. 217.

References

SAK: 1956 – The General Strike
SAK "This is SAK" history timeline. Political history of Finland General strikes in Europe 1956 in labor relations 1956 labor disputes and strikes 1956 in Finland {{Finland-stub

Background

See also

References