Pay settlements, Outsourcing, Finland

JHL, Jyty and other unions have negotiated pay increases for employees of companies covered by the Avaintes employers’ organisation. This includes (joint) municipal companies and private companies providing services to municipalities. The pay increases also apply to the Seuretes staff supply company and cover the third year of the collective agreement which runs until the end of April 2025. There will be a general increase of 3.1% as of 1 May 2024 and from 1 February 2024, a previously agreed general increase of 0.3% will also be paid. As of 1 October 2024 there will be a further 0.3% increase

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 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

The JHL trade union reports that negotiations have delivered a two-year agreement in the energy sector that runs to 31 March 2025. Employees will get a 3.5% general increase on 1 August this year along with a €415 lump sum paid on 1 July. Next year the general increase will be 2% from 1 June with 0.5% for the local level.

JHL, JYTY and other trade unions have negotiated an agreement on pay with the Avainta employers’ organisation that covers both municipal companies and private companies providing services to municipalities. The changes to pay reflect what was negotiated last year when it was agreed that pay rises in 2023 would be linked to developments in the technology and chemical industry sectors. The outcome is that there will be a general increase of 2.2% on 1 June and a further 0.4% distributed on a local basis. There will also be a one-off payment of €500 by the end of August 2023 for full-time staff

The JHL, JYTY, SuPer and TEHY have negotiated new two-year agreements on pay covering workers in municipalities and health and welfare services. The agreements include both general and local elements to the pay increases. For municipal workers the combined increases will mean rises of 4.1% in 2023 (plus a €467 lump sum) and 4.0% in 2024. There will be higher increases for health workers who are set to benefit from various elements that go towards a 6.7% increase in 2023 (plus a €467 lump sum) and 6.5% in 2024. Meanwhile, negotiations involving JHL and JYTY will mean that church employees will

The Tehy and SuPer trade unions have agreed to a mediated settlement to their long-running dispute with municipal employers that includes pay developments over five years, COVID compensation payments and other improvements to working conditions. The average salary in the health and social services sector will increase by at least 17.3% over five years, with an increase of 15.3% in the first three years. There will be a separate one-off payment of €600 for those who involved in treating COVID patients. The unions say that a practical nurse will see their salary rise from the current €2,255 to

Trade unions have agreed a new two-year collective agreement in private health care that runs from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2024. There will be a general 2% increase on 1 October 2022 and a 1.9% pay rise on 1 June 2023. However, if pay developments in industry are higher than 1.9% then the additional amount will be added. The agreement also includes improvements to family leave, sick leave and requires employers to justify the use of fixed-term contracts even for short periods. Two working groups are being set up – one to develop the culture of negotiation and collective bargaining and the other

The collective agreement covering the municipal sector has now been finalised and runs from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2025. EPSU affiliates JHL and Jyty report that salaries will increase this month by €46 per month for those on less than €2300 a month and by 2% for salaries above this amount. Allowances will also increase by 2%. A pot of 0.5% will be distributed in October depending on negotiations in September. If the negotiations don’t produce a result the 0.5% will be a general increase for all. Next year and in 2024 wages will increase by at least 1.5% in June with a further 0.4%, allocated

State sector trade unions have negotiated a two-year agreement which delivers a 2.0% pay increase this year on 1 June for 78000 workers. The agreement runs from 1 March 2022 to 29 February 2024. Negotiations on a pay increase for 2023 will take place late this year with a deadline of 21 December. If that deadline is missed then it will be possible to terminate the agreement. The unions have also managed to get long-sought changes to the rules that apply to the payment of supplementary and overtime pay when the working period or working week is unexpectedly interrupted due to illness or other

The JHL public services union has successfully defended the pay and conditions of workers employed by the Arkea municipal company that provides catering and other services to the Turku local authority. The company had sought to change collective agreements that would have meant significant changes to pay rates with some workers potentially losing out by as much as 30% of their earnings. The strike action led to negotiations with the company which will now stick with the current agreement which is due to be re-negotiated next spring.

The JHL public services has organised strike action at the Arkea Oy municipal company, owned by the City of Turku. The union is challenging the company’s plans to switch employers' organisation and transfer around 1000 employees to a different collective agreement with poorer pay and conditions. Lower-paid workers could see their pay cut by 15%-30%. The city's group management has given the plan its blessing and discussions between the trade union JHL and Arkea have not yielded any results. The action began on 17 November with measures taken to ensure no risks to safety. The strike will affect

The new collective agreement covering 420000 local government workers, including health care was finally agreed at the end of May and runs from 1.4.2020 to 28.2.2022. There will be a pay rise of 1.22% or at least 26 Euro on 1 August this year, followed by a further 1% on 1 April 2021. There is also a sum of 0.8% to be agreed at local level, valid from 1 April 2021. The annual 24 unpaid extra working hours agreed as part of a "competitiveness" pact with the then government in 2016 will end on 30 August this year. From September 2021 there will be a separate agreement covering healthcare workers

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

Unions in the municipal sector have negotiated a 26-month agreement that includes a 3.45% pay increase plus compensation for lost holiday entitlement. The pay increase will be implemented in three stages: on 1.5.2018 a general increase of 26 euros for salaries up to EUR 2080 a month and 1.25% above that. There then follows an increase of 1.2% on 1 January 2019 and 1% on 1 April 2019. In January 2019 employees will also get 9.2% of their monthly pay (average EUR 260) as compensation for lost holiday entitlement. In other sectors, including private kindergartens, negotiations have stalled and