Helsinki (12.03.2002 – Juhani Artto) At the end of last year a historic agreement was signed at KWH Pipe in the western Finnish City of Vaasa. The agreement applies arrangements known as the Danish 3+1 working hour model for the first time in Finland.
In practise the agreement means that at the Thermo-Pipe department each group of three employees will be prepares, where necessary, to share its work with a fourth employee. To demonstrate its commitment to the agreement the enterprise has permanently employed more than ten workers who were previously on temporary employment contracts at the factory. The agreement required the employer to do this only for ten workers.
The 5-year agreement may be applied for only two months in the first quarter of each year. This is a season of low demand in the Finnish plastic pipes business, as the ground is frozen and there is much less outdoor piping work. In the past the employer adjusted to seasonal changes in the demand for labour by making considerable use of temporary employees.
The system now agreed reduces the periods of unemployment and insecurity suffered by the workers and the training costs incurred by the enterprise. The scheme also reduces the risk of the enterprise losing its skilled workers.
The agreement provides that in two months of the year a worker may thus be laid off for a maximum of ten days, but seven of these days may be "covered" by the extra holidays, known as Pekkanen days, that are granted in Finland to reduce overall working hours. This means that under the new system the worker may need to claim unemployment benefit for only a few days each year. The agreement also includes an additional bonus for established employees reducing losses incurred through the difference between unemployment benefit and regular pay.
Shop steward Roger Svanfors considers the most important achievement to be the establishment of more than ten permanent jobs. The same principle applied elsewhere could even significantly reduce the national unemployment situation.
Also essential to the agreement is, Svanfors says, that it can be applied for only two months of the year. Otherwise the financial sacrifice would be too great to be realistically asked of any worker. Now the annual net loss is minimal.
Svanfors recommends this "Danish model" especially for enterprises operating in industries with strong seasonal variations. Tom Lindholm, the manager of the KWH Thermo-Pipe department agrees with Svanfors.
In spite of the obvious benefits for both the enterprise and the employees, doubts about the relevance of the Danish model were also expressed at the beginning of the reform process. Thorough discussion of the pros and cons of the scheme quelled these concerns and now satisfaction prevails in the department.
Ironically, the agreement has not yet been applied, as demand for thermopipes has been so good this year that all worker input has been needed.
Application of the Danish model is not the only solution at KWH Pipe in Vaasa that deserves greater publicity. Already several years ago part of the production changed over to 6-hour shifts. This resulted in a major rise in productivity and experiences were also positive in other respects.
Why is it that KWH Pipe Vaasa has been so eager to change its working hour system so radically? Tuomo Lilja, editor of the Chemical Workers’ Union magazine Reaktio, gives much credit for these creative innovations to the factory’s long-time shop steward Roger Svanfors, who is also a member of the General Council of the Chemical Workers’ Union.
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*This story is based on articles and interviews by Tuomo Lilja and published in Reaktio 1-2002, the magazine of the Chemical Workers’ Union.