Learn Finnish: Ammattiliitto vaatii sitä, että ylityö korvattaisiin oikeudenmukaisesti. - The trade union demands that overtime be compensated fairly.

Verbs expressing a demand, proposal, or wish, such as vaatia (to demand), trigger the conditional mood in the subordinate että clause. Even though English might use the subjunctive (be compensated) or present tense, Finnish uses the conditional to show that this is a desired outcome rather than an established fact.

What is the purpose of sitä right before että?

The verb vaatia requires its object to be in the partitive case. Because an entire että clause cannot take a case ending, Finnish often uses the partitive pronoun sitä (from se) as a placeholder object before the clause begins.

Why is the passive conditional used in korvattaisiin instead of an active form?

The sentence focuses on the action being done to the overtime (ylityö), without specifying exactly who is doing the compensating. The Finnish passive is perfect for this, acting much like the English passive in this context.

How is the long word oikeudenmukaisesti built?

It is an adverb built from the noun oikeus (justice or right) and the suffix -mukainen (in accordance with). The adjective oikeudenmukainen means fair or just, and adding the -sti ending turns it into the adverb fairly.