Helsinki (20.10.2010 - Juhani Artto) Cleaners and other property service employees will see their wages rise significantly in the next five years.
The collective agreement between the Service Union United PAM and the employer association Kiinteistöpalvelut ry, announced on Tuesday, raises wages by over 20 per cent. The minimum tariffs will rise by 16.5 per cent and the rest will come from annual wage hikes.
The agreement will raise minimum wages of property services to the level of other service industries. The parties believe that it will ease the
recruitment problems cleaning and other property service companies have been having. At present the lowest tariffs for cleaners is slightly below EUR8 per hour.
The private property service industry employs about 70,000 persons.
In Finland agreements on long-term development of wages are rare. In this case the pressure build up from mounting recruitment problems has escalated to such an extent that organized employers were moved to approve such an agreement.
The agreement will mean a considerable increase in property maintenance costs as some 80 per cent of the industry's turnover consists of labour costs.