Collective Bargaining, Strike, Finland

(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).

(August 2016) The Trade Union News website reports that employer organisations are beginning a campaign against the generally binding nature of collective agreements. This is an important element of Finnish industrial relations ensuring that collective bargaining coverage is very high - 75.5% in the private sector and 100% in the public sector. The trade union confederations have made clear their support for the system which they argue prevents undercutting by unscrupulous employers. Read more at Trade Union News (EN). Also see a recent analysis by the ETUI.

A new national conciliator has been appointed and has already created concern among trade unions following a TV interview. Vuokko Piekkala comes from the church employers' organisation and told the YLE channel that the first agreement reached in the upcoming bargaining round will, under her guidance, set a pay rise ceiling for the rest of the agreements. Public services unions TEHY and JHL, along with the SAK confederation, immediately expressed their concerns about Piekkala taking a position in line with the employers rather than showing strict impartiality.

In preparation for the upcoming bargaining round where it will be involved in negotiating around 60 agreements, the JHL public services union has underlined the importance of protecting the purchasing power of public sector workers just as much as those in the private sector. Rejecting a call from employers that public sector union pay demands should be moderate, JHL notes that a number of private sector negotiations have led to pay increases of around 3.2% over two years.

Trade unions representing over 430,000 municipal workers have come together to call for a significant pay rise for their members. The unions argue that public sector workers were negatively affected by the competitiveness pact agreed in 2016 with cuts to holiday entitlement. The sector has also seen massive cuts, including job losses, and that a pay freeze would be totally unacceptable. The unions argue that a pay rise is necessary and would mean a major boost for the economy.

The JHL public sector union is preparing for the upcoming round of collective bargaining by surveying members and activists over the key elements for negotiation across the 60 agreements that it covers, most of which expire in January 2018. This time there will be not be a framework agreement negotiated with employers but the union will be in discussion with other members of the SAK confederation with a view to setting some common demands.

The JHL public services union says that it will aim for a flat-rate rather than a percentage pay rise in the upcoming bargaining round as a step towards closing the pay gap between the low and high paid. Another priority for the union is more control for workers over working time and shift work, seen as crucial to improve well-being at work. JHL will also be looking at initiatives to address the cut in holiday bonus in the public sector and action on zero-hours contracts.

The JHL public services union is developing its bargaining claims across 55 national, sectoral agreements and 40 at agency and other levels. Negotiations are already underway in private social services where the union says the priority issues are pay rates and holiday entitlement that fall below public sector levels and excessive use of zero-hours contracts. This is despite the fact that the big private sector employers are making large profits.

The JHL public services union says that it will aim to negotiate pay increases for lower paid workers that are higher than those in industry as a step towards reducing the pay gap between the sectors. It says this is essential to tackle low pay in sectors dominated by women. It also wants the 24 hours of extra unpaid work introduced in the Competitiveness Pact to be paid or cut while measures on carers' and paternity leave will also feature in the next bargaining round. The union carried out a survey of 8000 members to help it plan its priorities and gauge support for industrial action.

Strike action organised by the JHL public services union was instrumental in maintaining the collective agreement covering around 1000 employees of the cleaning and catering company Arkea, owned by the City of Turku. The company had switched to another employers' organisation so that it could sign up to a different and inferior collective agreement. This would have meant employees suffering cuts in pay of 15%-30%. After strike action by the 1000 employees at Arkea, a second strike also involving local transport workers was organised. With the threat of a third strike the company agreed to

Just over 90000 workers in the technology sector are set to see wages increase by 3.3% over the next two years. This is an important deal which sets the pace for other sectors in the upcoming round of collective bargaining. The agreement also sees the end of the 24 hours of extra unpaid work a year that unions reluctantly agreed to in 2016 in the competitiveness pact pushed by the then conservative government. The 3.3% will be paid in three stages, 1.3% this year and 1.4% next year with potential discretion given to shop stewards for how these are implemented at local level. The remaining 0.6%

(March 2017) Public services union JHL is calling for an extra pay increase for sectors dominated by women. The union chair Päivi Niemi-Laine said:"We need a separate round on top of the general increase. Women-dominated sectors have been kept in check and now we have to ensure that purchasing power remains strong in women-led fields." The union argues that action needs to be taken to address the persistent gender pay gap and that public salaries are being effectively cut by a decision to reduce holiday pay as part of the competitiveness deal negotiated last year.

(December 2016) Trade unions, employers and the government are in debate over the pattern of collective bargaining in the country. The EK employers' organisation is looking to sector bargaining while the government favours sector bargaining with a cap set by the pay increase negotiated in the export sector. Trade unions prefer sector bargaining in a national framework and are discussing the implications of possible new arrangements - particularly what the export sector gap would mean for the services sector and scope for negotiating higher increases for sectors dominated by women workers.

The Tehy and SuPer nurses’ unions have confirmed the dates for the second period of industrial action following the first set of strikes launched on 1 April. The next stage will begin on 20 April and end on 4 May and will affect specialised medical care in 13 hospital districts, with approximately 35,000 nurses on strike. The postponement is to allow the Conciliation Committee sufficient time for mediation. The severe shortage of nurses in areas like elderly care means that this sector will be excluded from the strike as the unions point out that the staffing levels regulated by law are often

The Super and Tehy health unions are maintaining their ban on overtime and shift changes following their rejection of the proposed deal for health and local government. They continue to press for higher pay increases as essential to help tackle the urgent staff shortages in health and social care. Meanwhile, municipal unions JHL and Jyty are also keeping up their industrial action despite their provisional approval of the agreement. They are pushing for the agreement to be finalised and for the expected payments to be made by the summer, arguing that workers could lose out by over €300 if pay