Joulupukki's Wish List

Economic recession adjustment policy shakes Finland.

Europa Press - Oulu - 27/04/2010

Local newspaper Kaleva reports that Joulupukki (aka Santa Claus) announced this Monday the final implementation of his new adjustment plan aimed at solving the serious problems that his company, Christmas Oy, is facing due to the economic recession.

"Among the measures adopted, his house will now be available for sub-renting during the Summers in order to make the company more resource efficient. Also, all non-essential elves have been made redundant and, from now on, the reindeers are overtaking themselves the manufacture of toys during idle hours in order to increase productivity", a Joulupukki's spokesperson said in the press conference organized yesterday in Rovaniemi.

Additionally, he is also outsourcing all non-vital services, such as letter reading, hohoho-making and is having a Finnish subsidiary company bringing Polish and Estonian workers to deliver the toys and being generally in charge of logistics.

Finnish representatives are complaining that foreigners are taking away jobs that they could do themselves, while Joulupukki argues that the high level of taxation in Finland harms his activities.

In an attempt to influence the negotiations, last week the Elvish Union put the country upside down by going on a disruptive one-hour strike. Nothing but trouble for the regular Finnish citizens was achieved with the strike since the Elvish Union did not have the support of the Reindeer Transport Workers Union, and soon after the strike was finally called off, the reforms went on without any other unexpected incidence.

A great number of elves are applying now for allowances in Kela, finding great difficulties due to unclear matters regarding their nationality and the seasonal nature of their previous work.

Finnish authorities have expressed concern about the situation since the process can be costly and expensive for the government, and they study now the possibility of deporting those elves without a valid Kela card to Sweden, since actually that's where they have always belonged to.

Joulupukki's wife could not be reached to comment on the matter.

And no one asked the children.