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Pay rise remains unresolved, industry strikes to follow
Helsinki (04.12.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Industrial Union has announced a strike from 9 to 11 December. It will cover 35,000 employees from the technology, chemical, wood product and special branches sectors. Negotiations for a new collective agreement for technology industry faltered on the question of pay rises. Other issues in the agreement are more or less agreed upon. Even the hard question of the 24 unpaid annual extra working hours, forced on employees by the right-wing Government of PM Sipilä in 2016, is now resolved. These hours will disappear in the technology sector agreement. The National Conciliator made a proposal in respect of a pay rise, 1.6 per cent as part of a two years agreement.
Lue lisää: Pay rise remains unresolved, industry strikes to...
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The postal strike is over and a new collective agreement reached
Helsinki (29.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) A new collective agreement for postal workers ends the escalating strike wave. The employer agreed to move 700 workers back to their previous collective agreement which is negotiated by the Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU and employers association Palta. And they quickly reached a new collective agreement. The core issue at the root of the dead-locked negotiations was the fate of 700 workers employed at postal service company Posti’s parcel sorting offices.
Lue lisää: The postal strike is over and a new collective...
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The National Conciliator’s proposal to end the postal strike totally ignored the core issue
Helsinki (20.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) There is no solution yet in the postal services strike. The National Conciliator Vuokko Piekkala put forward, on 18 November, a proposal for an agreement. Surprisingly, it completely failed to address the core issue of the conflict, the fate of the 700 state owned postal service company Posti employees which the employer unilaterally transferred to another company and another collective agreement. "There was not a word about these employees in the National Conciliator’s proposal", says Heidi Nieminen, President of the Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU.
Lue lisää: The National Conciliator’s proposal to end the...
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Further solidarity industrial action in sight due to the postal services strike
Helsinki (19.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Many unions have announced plans to take industrial action in support of the collective bargaining process in the ongoing postal strike. The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU strike in the state owned postal service company Posti began on Monday 11 November. The Service Union United PAM will stop handling of parcels and letters between 25 November and 8 December in some 750 Post-in-Shop services. These are located among others in grocery stores, cafes and service stations. "PAM does not accept employer attempts to weaken the terms of employment for those working at Posti. We see it as vitally important that terms of employment and business are developed jointly", says PAM President Annika Rönni-Sällinen.
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Postal strike is set to escalate
Helsinki (13.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The strike at Posti, the government owned postal services company is set to escalate. The reason for this strike is the employer's decision to force some 700 Posti employees into another collective agreement. The Finnish Post and Logistics Union PAU is determined to resist this move claiming that this would mean a serious cut in pay for their members. Negotiations failed to reach a mutually satisfactory outcome and so strike action commenced on Monday 11 November. Now several other unions say that they are ready to support the strike with further strikes unless there is real progress this week in negotiations on a new collective agreement.
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Ruotsin mallia arvostellaan
Tekijä (13.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Suomessa moni pyrkii työehtosopimuksissa kohti Ruotsin mallia. Siinä teollisuuden liittojen sopimukset asettavat palkankorotuksille rajat, joissa muutkin pysyvät. Ruotsissa on kuitenkin alettu pyristellä irti tästä mallista. Työehtosopimuskierroksen pohjan luo vuonna 1997 solmittu industriavtal eli teollisuussopimus. Siinä ovat mukana puu- ja graafisen alan GS, elintarviketyöläiset, teollisuusliitto IF Metall, insinöörien liitto sekä teollisuuden toimihenkilöiden Unionen. Tämä Facken inom industrin -yhteenliittymä määrittää käytännössä Ruotsin palkankorotukset. Linjaus tunnetaan nimellä märket.
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Kone nostaa palkkoja 7,8 prosenttia - Espanjassa
Tekijä (13.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Tammikuusta asti käydyt neuvottelut Kone Elevadores -yhtiössä Espanjassa päättyivät 7,8 prosentin palkankorotuksiin kolmen vuoden sopimuksella. Kone tarjosi alkujaan kahta prosenttia ja liitot vaativat yhdeksää. Sopimuksen takana olevat kolme liittoa vauhdittivat asiaa lakolla ja mielenilmaisulla huhtikuussa. Ne pitivät Koneen tarjousta osakkeenomistajien hyödyttämisenä, ei työntekijöiden.
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Sukupolvisopimus eteni Alankomaissa
Tekijä (13.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Metalli- ja teknologiateollisuuden uusi työehtosopimus tuo 300 000 työntekijälle 7,93 prosentin palkankorotukset 28 kuukauden sopimuksella. Lisäksi he saavat 306 euron kertakorvauksen. Samalla työnantaja lupasi vakituisen työsuhteen 5 000 nyt Alankomaissa yleisellä joustavalla sopimuksella töitä tekevälle. Suuri voitto oli aiemmin henkilökohtaisesti sovittavan sukupolvisopimuksen muuttaminen työntekijän oikeudeksi. Nyt 60 vuotta täyttänyt työntekijä voi vähentää työaikansa 80 prosenttiin, saada 90 prosenttia palkastaan ja 100 prosenttia eläkkeestään.
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Chemical sector collective bargaining stopped due to employers demand to hamper organising
Helsinki (12.11.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Industrial Union says that it has decided to stop negotiations with regard to collective bargaining in the chemical sector. The reason for this is that the Chemical Industry Federation of Finland demanded - as a part of the new collective agreement - to end the practise whereby the employer facilitates the paying of union dues when paying salaries. This practise has been in widespread use in Finland since the late 1960s. The Union calls employers action flagrant and says it will not return to the negotiation table before the demand is withdrawn.
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Employer's demands for heavy pay and benefit cuts in technology industry stymies collective bargaining
Helsinki (30.10.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Several important collective agreements in the technology industry are nearing their expiry date at the end of October. Altogether these agreements cover 296,000 employees. In spite of the tight schedule no results are anywhere near in sight during this current round of collective bargaining. As predicted, the most difficult question is the fate of the 24 unpaid annual extra working hours, forced on employees by the right-wing Government of PM Sipilä in 2016. The unions say this is something that must come to an end, while the employers are equally adamant that it should continue . What makes the situation even more difficult is that the unpaid extra hours have been turned into practise in very different ways. In some cases these do not exist, or are used for well-being activities like voluntary motion. However, in many working places extra hours are firmly fixed in shift rosters.
