Ten people who work as parliamentary assistants and in other capacities at parliament say they have encountered inappropriate behaviour by MPs, according to a survey by Iltalehti.
Debate about the matter was recently sparked by an Yle documentary series Vallan algoritmi (roughly, 'The Algorithm of Power') in which MP Ville Merinen (SDP) said that he has not dared to reveal to the public how MPs treat their assistants.
He also suggested that the incidents of alleged harassment were not just an issue within the SDP's parliamentary group — but in fact affected the entire parliament.
So, the tabloid sent a survey about the matter to 188 civil servants, 66 of whom responded.
The majority of respondents (56%) said they hadn't personally encountered inappropriate behaviour and none of them said they'd been the target of violent behaviour.
Two respondents reported workplace bullying, another two reported sexual harassment, four reported derogatory or insulting speech, while six reported other inappropriate behaviour. Respondents were able to report multiple forms of inappropriate behaviour, according to the paper.
The paper recounted several of the responses, with some reporting that some MPs had behaved like bullies towards their assistants, or used inappropriate language with females.
However, Iltalehti said the survey suggests that the overall working atmosphere at parliament is generally good.
Just over 44 percent of respondents said they think the working atmosphere was very good, while nearly 46 percent said it was good. Only 1.7 percent of respondents said they felt the working atmosphere was bad, while 8.5 percent rated the atmosphere as neutral.
The respondents included 41 MP assistants, while the remainder work in parliamentary groups.
EU-Mercosur deal's impact on Finland
After around 25 years of negotiation, the EU and South America's biggest economies have made a mega trade deal that could potentially limit pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration in the region.
According to Iltalehti, the EU's deal — including the elimination of 90 percent of import tariffs — will open the markets of South America's Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) to Europe.
One knock-on effect, the paper says, is that Finland may soon start seeing more affordable beef products on store shelves, thanks to increased imports from the region.
Iltalehti queried Finland's major supermarket chains to find out how that may play out.
The market leader, run by cooperative retail giant S Group, said its goal is to keep selling a high proportion of domestically produced meat. At the moment, around 90 percent of the meat it sells is produced in Finland.
S Group stores carry just a few individual products imported from South America, the company told the paper.
On the other hand, the firm's VP of category management and procurement, Heidi Salmi, said that its product selection is constantly changing and that it strives to meet customer needs.
Meanwhile, competing grocery retailers Kesko and Lidl told the paper that they have yet to discuss possible impacts that the EU-Mercosur deal could have on its product selection.
Kesko's sourcing and sales chief, Carita Rissanen, told Iltalehti that products being domestically produced is an important criteria for its customers. She noted that at the moment, its share of non-domestic meat is generally quite small.
At the same time, Lidl told the paper that it is too early to comment about the possible impacts of the major trade deal.
Earlier this week, an Iltalehti article suggested that the Mercosur agreement could affect the price of beef as early as next week, due to the anticipated influx of meat imports from South America.
Roads slick with snow and ice
The extensive cold snap that had gripped Finland for quite some time abated earlier this week.
But snow is also on the way, and that means slippery road conditions in many parts of the country, according to daily Helsingin Sanomat.
HS writes that Fintraffic has issued warnings for poor driving conditions across much of the western half of Finland — in regions extending from Uusimaa (home of the capital region) up to Central Ostrobothnia.
The warning said that road conditions were already — or will become — poor over the course of Thursday morning, due to snowfall, snowdrifts and icy conditions.
The snow is expected to arrive in the Helsinki region by 9am on Thursday, it said.
Southwestern parts of the country could see more than five centimeters of snow accumulation over the course of Thursday, while the Helsinki area could receive a few centimeters of snow.
