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(Helsinki 02.09.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) Trade union membership in Finland remains high. And it is highest among those employed in industry, where 80.8 per cent of wage and salary earners belong to a union. Also, more women tend to be union members than men.

The latest figures are based on statistical information up until the end of 2013 and are from a study by Lasse Ahtiainen published by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. This is the fifth similar type study since 1989.

At the end of 2013 the total level of organised employees was 64.5 per cent. This shows a slight fall off in membership from a previous study in 2009 when union density was 67.4 per cent.

In the public service sectors, the rate of union membership was 76.3 per cent, while in the private service sectors it was 51.6 per cent.

JHL (31.08.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) The Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL is still ready to embrace measures to improve the prospects of Finnish services and products, says JHL Chairperson Jarkko Eloranta regarding negotiations on the so called social contract.

Back at the end of May Prime Minister Sipilä’s Government Programme set a target to improve Finnish economic competitiveness by reducing unit labour costs by at least five per cent.

To this end a tripartite process was embarked on by the Government, the employer associations and trade union confederations. The second round of these negotiations ended without a result in August.

”It is a pity that negotiations ended at such an early stage”, Eloranta says. ”Finland - we all - needs high quality services and products in order to succeed better than we are doing today, both in the domestic and international market.”

JHL (25.08.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) The City of Espoo decided in August to corporatize their municipal enterprise Espoo Catering. The employees are deeply disappointed and wore black ribbons on their arms for two days while working.

”We want to guarantee the food service of school pupils, day care centres and the elderly, but the black ribbon demonstrates our feelings following the decision”, says JHL shop steward Kristiina Salo for the Motiivi magazine of JHL.

There has been lengthy debate in the City of Espoo on whether to outsource or corporatize the city services. In May the City Council voted not to outsource technical and maintenance services.

JHL has strongly opposed the planned outsourcings and corporatizations. This is in line with the wishes of Espoo residents.

(Helsinki 22.08.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) Yet another attempt to draft a so called social contract for the labour market has failed. The discussion round now was about to draft a list of issues to be negotiated during the next year.

Back at the end of May Prime Minister Sipilä’s Government Programme set a target to improve Finnish economic competitiveness by reducing unit labour costs by at least five per cent.

To this end a tripartite process was embarked on between the Government, the employer associations and trade union confederations. Now, after several attempts Prime Minister declared that the negotiations have come to a close.

Helsinki (06.08.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) Talks surrounding the so called social contract promoted by the Sipilä Government begin to take shape. The Government has invited labour market organisations to agree on what kind of measures are needed to boost the Finnish economy and how to reach these goals, giving them until August 21 to come up with a plan.

The social contract idea has not worked according to plan so far. The Government Programme set a target to improve Finnish economic competitiveness by reducing unit labour costs by at least five per cent. The contract should show the way how.

However, previous attempts to reach a labour accord failed. The Government adopted more or less fully the employers’ shopping list for labour market measures. This included an idea to make Finns work two and half weeks more in a year without any pay increase.

The initiative says that current Finnish legislation allows municipalities to limit institutional care and replace it with home care. This results not only in problems with the level of care but also higher costs for the older people themselves.

Helsinki (30.07.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) CEO incomes of the major listed companies have reached their highest levels in the last ten years. These top incomes rose by 8.3 per cent in a year. At the same time the income of those Finns working full time rose by 1.5 per cent.

The figures are from a report carried out by the leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. It has been tracking the top CEOs incomes of the same 43 listed companies for ten years now.

The salary and bonuses of the major company CEOs was last year 79 000 euro more than a year before. This amount is almost double the average full time salary in Finland, 41 350 euro.

Helsinki (02.07.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) The new Government Programme of Prime Minister Sipilä goes against the Finnish Constitution when it comes to labour rights, says a professor of labour law.

Jaana Paanetoja, Professor of Labour Law at Rovaniemi University, writes that the Government Programme shows a a meagre knowledge of the labour legislation.

According to the Programme ”the objective is that companies will be able more widely than at present to agree locally on ... terms of employment such as pay, working hours, conditions for terminating employment, use of a working time bank, reduction of sick leave, and issues affecting wellbeing at work.”

The Government Programme includes several unclear bits, Paanetoja says. Issues like reduction of sick leave has nothing to do with terms of employment, for example.

JHL (01.07.2015 - Heikki Jokinen) Negotiations on collective agreements in the Municipal and Central Government sector ended well. The proposals were accepted both by JHL and the Employers' Unions.

On June 15 the Trade Union Confederations agreed to extend the 2013 national agreement on pay for another year, and settled also to keep the latest pay rises at a very low level so as to boost the ailing Finnish economy. Individual trade unions now have a job before them to put the national agreement into effect in their own collective agreements.

JHL has now managed to coalesce its five collective agreements in the municipal sector. Around 429 000 people are affected by these agreements. The municipal sector employs one fifth of all wage and salary earners in Finland. The total amount of salaries and social security costs in this sector comes to 21.2 billion euro.

The agreement will raise pay by 16 euro a month and at least by 0.43 per cent. This means that incomes of under 3 720 euro a month will get a flat rise of 16 euro and higher salaries will see an increase of 0.43 per cent.

JHL’s goal in these negotiations is to see that pay rates should be clearly established in the municipal and state sectors until the end of June. Other negotiations will be held according to varying schedules, as agreed between the negotiating parties. In some sectors there is already an understanding that negotiations will be held later on in the summer or in the autumn.