Competitiveness pact negotiations get underway

Employer and trade union organisations have agreed a competitiveness pact in order to avoid even tougher measures being imposed by the government. Some elements of the pact will impact on hours and leave and will be implemented through collective bargaining. The concessions on the trade union side should be reciprocated on the employer side with increased investment. If the government accepts the pact as an alternative to its proposals then it should abandon plans to cut public spending and raise taxes. [Read more at > Trade Union News (EN)->http://heikkijokinen.info/en/trade-union-news-from

(June 2016) The process of negotiating the so-called competitiveness pact is nearly at an end with 86.5% of workers now covered on the basis of the unions that have signed up. Some negotiations are continuing and so the final figure may exceed 90%. One trade union leader described it as a choice between a pest and cholera with the government threatening tougher measures if the pact were not agreed. It will mean a pay freeze and all workers working 24 hours a year more without pay. But public sector workers will also see a 30% cut in their holiday bonus. Read more at JHL (EN).

Unions and employers have had the first exchanges in negotiations over the energy sector collective agreement. The current agreement was signed in 2007 and runs until 1 July 2009. ABVAKABO has made clear that it will negotiate a pay increase that takes account of the recent good performance of energy companies and will not restrict itself to pay guidelines set by central talks between employers, government and the union confederations. The energy sector employers have indicated that they want to talk about overtime rules and about the introduction of a “benefit budget” where individual workers