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Helsinki (7.6.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Union Congress of the Service Union United PAM (4 - 6 June) unanimously elected Annika Rönni-Sällinen as its new President. Ann Selin, PAM President since 2002, had already made it clear one year ago that she would not be running for re-election.

Rönni-Sällinen (born 1976) is a lawyer and has had long and considerable experience working with the trade unions. Prior to this she had been working as a Director for the Law and Environment Department at the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions SAK. PAM is a member union of SAK.

She has also been working since 2002 in various posts at PAM’s central office, as Bargaining Manager among other things.

Helsinki (05.06.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The trade unions are satisfied with the new planned government programme. The incoming PM Antti Rinne government published a general outline of its programme on 3 June.

Plans to scrap the failed activation model, invest more in education and employment services, focus on gender equality and a commitment to cooperate with labour market parties were warmly greeted by the unions.

One of the major positive issues is, moreover, a complete change in the government labour market policy. The outgoing PM Sipilä government tried to dictate what unions must do, whereas the incoming PM Rinne government favours cooperation and negotiation.

Helsinki (03.06.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The incoming Finnish Government is committed to making almost a full U-turn on labour market issues in comparison with the line taken by the outgoing Government.

The five party leaders participating in the negotiations to form a new Government released on Monday, June 3, a 193-page draft government programme. It promises cooperation in the labour market instead of confrontation which was one of the hallmarks of the outgoing right wing Government headed by PM Sipilä.

Participating in negotiations to form a new government include the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party, the Green Party, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party. The incoming PM Antti Rinne is the leader of the Social Democratic Party and a former President of the Trade Union Pro.

The main goal of the draft programme is to raise the employment rate from today's 72.4 per cent to 75 per cent.

Helsinki (24.05.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Finnish Unions agreed in 2016 to sign up to an exceptional national Competitiveness Pact under heavy pressure from PM Sipilä’s right-wing Government. The pact added 24 hours onto annual working time and cut holiday pay for those working in the public sector by 30 per cent for three years.

And a portion of the Employees' pension insurance contribution was also transferred from employers to employees. This, in practise, led to pay cuts.

One of the major questions in the collective agreement round this autumn will be whether the extended working hours will stay in the collective agreements or not. The Competitiveness Pact included one optional year, and this negotiation is open now.

Helsinki (30.04.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Finnish Electrical Workers' Union filed an offence report asking Police to investigate measures taken by 20 companies during the union backed overtime ban in February and March last year.

According to the union companies maintaining the electrical grid delivered, during the overtime ban, 210 notices of emergency work to the authorities. This resulted in 2 400 hours of overtime work by more than 420 electricians.

This overtime work, the union says, was against the Working Hours Act. The law clearly stipulates that emergency work can only be used in exceptional cases, not to break legal industrial action.

Helsinki (25.04.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Trade union members are once again well represented among the members of the Finnish parliament. A majority of the MPs elected on April 14 most certainly belong to a union.

Out of the 200 seats, which make up the Finnish Parliament, 21 were won by members of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL. According to the JHL union magazine Motiivi, 14 of them represent the Social Democrats and 5 the Left Alliance.

Among them is Li Andersson, the Left Alliance party leader who was elected with a very high number of personal votes. In the previous Parliament sat also 21 JHL members, which means that one out of ten MPs is still a member of JHL Union.

Helsinki (08.04.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) Finland will elect a new Parliament on Sunday 14 April. The campaign Nation of the Free is striving to get labour market issues onto the electoral agenda.

The campaign Vapaiden valtakunta (Nation of the Free) was initiated by young trade union activists last autumn. The main idea is to ask all candidates standing for Parliament to what extent they agree with the values of the campaign.

Another important task they have taken upon themselves is to motivate people to vote. The campaign is not providing financial assistance or support to any individual candidate or any single political party.

Helsinki (02.04.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The fragmentation and precarisation of working life affects trade union membership, too. According to a new study union density has declined.

Seen globally, wage and salary earners are still joining trade unions in Finland, 59.4 per cent of those in working life were organised in 2017. However, in a previous similar study the figure in 2013 was 64.5 per cent.

The latest figure is based on statistical information up until the end of 2017 and comes from a study by Lasse Ahtiainen published by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. This is the seventh similar type study since 1989.

Helsinki (21.03.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The Industrial Union has declared an unusual embargo on the Lapwall company. The reasons for this have their roots in the strike action that occurred last October.

The embargo is a legal measure which can be used when a company does not belong to the employers' association. If necessary, a union can recommend to its members not to apply for jobs in a particular company. The purpose is to get the company to the negotiation table and reach a deal on disputed issues.

The employment office must inform jobseekers about the industrial dispute, and they are not allowed to break the embargo by guiding jobseekers in the company. An unemployed jobseeker has a legal right to refuse a job in a company under embargo.

Helsinki (05.03.2019 - Heikki Jokinen) The tripartite working group was unable to agree on new rules for unemployed jobseekers. The group was working along the lines of a so called activation model two, the Government proposal on the additional criteria jobseekers must meet to get uncut unemployment benefit.

The right-wing Finnish Government introduced, at the beginning of 2018, the so called activation model whereby an unemployed jobseeker forfeits 4.65 percent of his or her benefit if they are deemed to be less than active in their search for employment.

The trade union movement vehemently opposed the legislation, claiming it was unfair and sought to penalise those who were unemployed. For many people it would not be even theoretically possible to meet the criteria, the unions asserted. These warnings were ignored and what was predicted would happen did happen with a large number of jobseekers seeing their benefits cut.