Social Services, Union Rights, Finland

The SAK trade union confederation has decided to suspend the industrial action taken by a number of its member organisations in order to engage with the government over its programme of welfare cuts and anti-union measures. The actions began on 11 March and were suspended on 8 April. The unions involved were in both public and private sectors – the industrial union, the AKT transport workers' union, service union PAM, the construction union, the JHL public and welfare sector union and the electricity union. SAK wants the government to make clear that it won’t bring forward measures to restrict

The JHL public service unions, AKT transport union and other members of the SAK trade unio confederation are involved in two weeks of strike action against the government programme of welfare cuts and attacks on workers’ and trade union rights. The unions are frustrated that the government is not responding to their calls to negotiate. Alongside JHL and AKT, the strikes involve unions in industry, electricity, construction and services. The measures target exports and imports in ports and on rails. Large industrial plants and distribution terminals are also involved. Around 7,000 workers are

The JHL trade union and others in the SAK confederation organised a week of strike action between 12 and 16 February in their continuing campaign to oppose the government’s attacks on the welfare state and trade union and workers’ rights. The actions follow the major national protest organised by the SAK and STTK confederations on 1 February. A range of JHL’s membership will be involved in the week of action including workers in early childhood education and care, municipalities, local public transport, energy and rail services.

The SAK and STTK trade union confederations are continuing their campaign against government proposals that attack the welfare state, employment and trade union rights. The next step will be a national demonstration in Helsinki on 1 February. They are also calling for support from civil society organisations. The confederations have been participating in tripartite working groups, discussions set up by the government and in parliamentary hearings, emphasising how badly workers will be affected by the government’s policies. The first reductions affecting the unemployed have already entered into

Members of the JHL trade union have been taking strike action as part of the continuing campaign against the government’s plans to weaken welfare provision and employment rights and the right to strike. The largest strike day of the autumn season was planned for 14 December when JHL was due to shut down train services and power plants, among other services. There is a strong opposition in the union to the government’s proposals and further action has not been ruled out. The range of government measures include restrictions on the right to take political strike action which would, in future

The three trade union confederations – SAK, Akava and STTK – have issued a joint statement condemning the proposed reform of the law on collective action. They argue that the changes are designed to upset the balance of the labour market, increase unilateral action by employers and will not improve industrial peace. The confederations say that they will not accept the reforms and that there is no need for a further tightening of rules as existing regulations already impose a range of restrictions. The government wants to limit the rights to political strikes and solidarity action and proposes

The JHL public service union is organising a series of one-day political strikes as part of the continuing campaign by the trade union movement in protest against government policy. The unions are challenging government proposals on changes to welfare and employment rights and threats to weaken the right to strike and impose restrictions on pay bargaining. The strikes will hit different regions over the three-day period 7-9 November. A range of services will be affected including sports facilities, waste services, laundry and catering services, public transport and energy. So far the

Trade unions and their confederations continue to raise concerns about the government’s proposals that will impact trade union rights, employment conditions and the welfare state. Members of the SAK confederation has been involved in a series of events, protests and work stoppages since September and more are planned for November. The STTK confederation is mobilising for a major demonstration on 18 November while the AKAVA confederation is focused on getting the government around the negotiating table.

After nearly nine months the JHL trade union managed to negotiate improvements to the pay and conditions of personal assistants but not before workers in the sector took strike action for the first time. A key aim for the union was to reduce the gap between pay for personal assistants and pay levels in the rest of the social care sector. There will be a €400 payment (adjusted for hours and length of service) to compensate for the delay in finalising the agreement. There will be different pay increases according to the pay level ranging from 3.98% to 6.77% on 1 January 2024 and then from 4.79%

The three national trade union confederations – SAK, STTK and AKAVA – are extremely concerned about the new centre-right coalition government’s wide-ranging programme of attacks on trade union and workers’ rights and are planning events and protests in response. The government, which includes representatives of the far-right Finns Party is planning to impose restrictions on sympathetic and political strike action, a €200 fine for individual strikers when a strike is found to be illegal and a dramatic increase in fines on trade union for illegal action. It is also likely that further

The JHL trade union reports that the next efforts to resolve the dispute over a new collective agreement for personal assistants will take place at the Office of the National Conciliator on 28 August. Negotiations began in January and the union organised industrial action in the spring but negotiations were interrupted in June without a solution in sight. Pay is a key sticking point with JHL arguing that the special characteristics of the work of personal assistants have not been sufficiently taken into account in the negotiations and that specific measures are needed to improve the

The JHL trade union says that further industrial action may be necessary following the failure of conciliation to settle the dispute over a new collective agreement for personal assistants. Negotiations have been continuing since January and the last collective agreement expired at the end of April. JHL has been determined to secure a decent pay rise for worker in this sector characterised by low pay and high staff turnover. Meanwhile, industrial action by unions in the private social services sector – JHL, Tehy, SuPer and Jyty – helped deliver an improved offer from the employers and a 32

Members of the JHL trade union who work as personal assistants are continuing their strike action in support of better pay and conditions, following the failure of the employers' organisation to come up with an improved pay offer after mediation. The union is pushing for improved pay as a key measure in tackling the high turnover in the sector. Meanwhile, mediation is continuing in the private social services sector following strike action by the TEHY trade union. The union reported that the mediation, begun on 5 June and continuing into 8 June, was making some progress.

Nursing and care unions Tehy and SuPer, along with ERTO, are running a campaign of industrial action to put pressure on private sector employers in the social care sector to deliver an improved pay offer. The unions have imposed bans on overtime and shift changes as well as organising strike action with a key aim to reduce the gap between private and public sector pay levels. Tehy and SuPer say that workers in elderly, child and disability care are on pay levels €150-€400 a month less than their public sector counterparts. They say that in the current negotiations the employers’ pay offer

After three months of negotiations on a new collective agreement for around 20000 personal assistants for disabled people, the JHL trade union is planning industrial action to put pressure on the Heta employers’ organisation. Targeted action is set for 25 and 31 May in the Helsinki area. Meanwhile a ban on additional work, overtime and shift changes will continue and the measures will also impact employers that are not organised by the Heta. JHL says that the pay and conditions of personal assistants are too low in relation to the demanding and wide-ranging nature of the work and are